The Middle East CIO Club is the first vendor-neutral organisation for CIOs and IT Directors working in the region.

"An independent end-user organisation created by CIOs is long overdue in the Middle East,' explained Farouk Hemraj, director of The Middle East CIO Club.

"This new organisation offers CIOs and IT Directors the opportunity to create a powerful common voice for discussions and interaction with vendors, service providers and suppliers. All CIOs and IT Directors are welcome to apply to become members and full details are available on the club website," Mr Hemraj continues.

Close to 50 CIOs have already been accepted as members of The Middle East CIO Club. Members that attended the inaugural meeting to define the goals, focus and remit of the organisation included senior representatives from Arab Bank, A.W. Rostamani, Takreer, Al Abbas Group and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority.

The members present participated in a roundtable discussion on Green IT before discussing the issues and topics that The Middle East CIO Club would address in the months ahead. The CIOs agreed that they would develop an internal forum to share information regarding ERP implementation and application integration experiences.

The Middle East CIO Club will also act as a platform for sharing views on IT management best practices, business continuity planning and defining service level agreements (SLAs).

"The Middle East CIO Club can and should play a vital role as an independent body capable of representing the views of IT professionals within the region - allowing them to enter high-level dialogue with vendors and service providers regarding support, services and technical issues,' added Hemraj.

The Middle East CIO Club will also focus on the business benefits of technology solutions covering topics such as IT security, wireless technology and unified communications.

While maintaining its vendor-neutral stance, the members agreed to invite selected vendors and IT suppliers to present on specific topics where appropriate.

During the inaugural meeting, launch members also clarified The Middle East CIO Club membership criteria, reiterated the importance of remaining a vendor-neutral organisation and pledged to elect an advisory board. The Middle East CIO Club will also look to achieve official recognition as it tackles major issues influencing the development of ICT in the Middle East. These include the availability of skilled labour, communication costs and the pursuit of Green IT policies with particular focus on the disposal of used hardware.