Time is the most valuable commodity

Herman De Prins is UCB’s Chief Information Officer since October 2009. UCB values the role of technology in delivering on its promise to improve lives of people with severe diseases. In addition to delivering 300 projects each year Herman and his team have always explored digital opportunities that can deliver value within the patient eco-system. UCB has been an early adopter of using big data and artificial intelligence for clinical decision support and to identify how patients can benefit from the right medicine.

In addition to technology, people is what Herman is most caring about. The "Future of IT" program, aimed at creating digital leadership with a new culture in IT, ran from 2011 to 2015 and was the basis of today’s successes. "While still important, social, mobile and cloud are yesterday’s news. Today it is all about artificial intelligence”, says Herman, who has launched the next generation of the "Future of IT" program. With the support of his team, his peers and stakeholders, Herman became Data News’ “CIO of the Year” in 2016 and CIONet’s “European Digital Innovator of the Year” in 2017. Before joining UCB he worked for 15 years in the medical devices industry, in Europe and the US. During that time he held responsibilities for the US market, enterprise shared services, international operations and M&A. Prior to joining UCB he was Vice President IT International for Medtronic. He joined Medtronic from Abbott Laboratories, which acquired Guidant’s Vascular and Endovascular businesses, which Herman was part of.