Subjects chosen for debate at both the annual conference and quarterly meetings will be driven by a special advisory board of CIO and CTOs, to ensure the agenda reflects real market needs.

Giles Baxter, IS and change director, RSA

Giles Baxter was appointed as RSA UK IS & change director in April 2010, where he is accountable for IS and all change initiatives across the UK business. Previously at RSA Giles has held roles as IT & operations director for Asia and the Middle East, emerging markets CIO and group IT strategy and architecture lead.

Prior to RSA Giles was delivery director at Acturis, providing software as a service to the broker market, and prior to that with Accenture primarily delivering large scale life and pensions solutions.

Ian Butterworth, chief information officer - life, Aviva

Ian joined Norwich Union as Group Services Director in 1999. Following the merger of Norwich Union with CGU, he became Managing Director of Norwich Union Central Services, a shared service infrastructure provider.

From 2006, Ian became an Executive Director and Chief Information Officer of Aviva UK Life with responsibility for Business Change and IT as well as chairmanship of the Operational Risk Committee. In January 2011, Ian joined the UK Regional team as Technology Director with various interests including Solvency 2.

Ian began his IT career with Lucas Industries. In 1980, he moved to Bass plc where he held various IT roles in addition to a period in Corporate Planning. Latterly, he was a member of the acquisition team when Bass acquired Holiday Inn, becoming Vice President with responsibility for International IT based in Brussels.

He left Holiday Inn in 1993 to become European IT Director for Black & Decker, after which he returned to the brewing/leisure sector to be Group IT Director for Scottish & Newcastle plc.

Jem Eskenazi, chief information officer, Groupama Insurances

Jem has more than 25 years of IT management experience, 15 of which as CIO in regional or global roles. He has held executive level positions in medium to large corporations including Air Liquide, Philips Medical Systems, Business Objects, with a particular emphasis on linking IT to business strategy and competitiveness. Since 2007, he has been CIO of Groupama Insurances in the UK. During his career he has gained experience in running large scale global restructuring projects, high availability high volume large systems, structuring and centralising global teams, and cost rationalisation. He has a particular interest in new developments in the web and mobile industries, and their applications for business strategy. Jem has a M.Eng. degree from McGill University, Montreal, and an MBA from INSEAD.

John Knowles, IT and offshoring director, Allianz

John has spent the last 10 years at Allianz UK, initially as IT Director and then building up an off-shore captive operation which provides a range of IT and business services. As a member of the Allianz SE Operations & IT Committees, he also has a perspective on Allianz global operations and IT deployment. John previously held senior roles in Financial Services in IT and Business Operations in the UK and Europe.

Mike Newman, chief information officer, Towergate