Winners of 2023 Arizona ORBIE Awards Announced By ArizonaCIO

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Inspire Leadership Network

Apr 28, 2023, 14:00 ET

Executives from Benchmark Electronics, Arizona State University (Enterprise Technology), University of Phoenix, Sonora Quest Laboratories, State of Arizona Department of Education, & Circle K Recognized for their Achievements

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 28, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- ArizonaCIO announced the winners of its 2023 ORBIE® Awards. ArizonaCIO recognized technology executives in six key categories – Leadership, Global, Large Enterprise, Enterprise, Corporate, & Nonprofit/Public Sector. The Awards were presented at the Arizona ORBIE Awards at The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa.

"Member-led, non-commercial programs like the ORBIE Awards, build meaningful professional relationships with colleagues facing similar challenges, solving problems and avoiding pitfalls," said Steve Reese, ArizonaCIO Chair. "Successful leaders understand the 'superpower' of trusted relationships. In any gathering of technology leaders, the answer is in the room."

The 2023 Arizona ORBIE Award winners are:

Edward Dzadovsky, EVP & CTO, Circle K received the Leadership ORBIE.
Scott Hicar, SVP & CIO, Benchmark Electronics received the Global ORBIE for organizations over $1 billion annual revenue & multi-national operations.
Lev Gonick, CIO, Arizona State University (Enterprise Technology) received the Large Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $2 billion annual revenue.
Jamie Smith, CIO, University of Phoenix received the Enterprise ORBIE for organizations over $500 million annual revenue.
Sonny Varadan, CIO, Sonora Quest Laboratories received the Corporate ORBIE for organizations up to $500 million annual revenue.
Elizabeth Neeley, CIO, State of Arizona Department of Education received the Nonprofit/Public Sector ORBIE for nonprofit, healthcare, and education organizations.

The ORBIE Awards is the premier technology executive recognition program in the United States. Since inception in 1998, over 500 technology leaders have received the prestigious ORBIE Award. The ORBIE honors chief information officers who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership. Finalists and winners are selected by an independent peer review process, led by prior ORBIE recipients, based upon:

Leadership and management effectiveness
Business value created by technology innovation
Engagement in industry and community endeavors

The Arizona ORBIE Awards keynote was delivered by Edward Dzadovsky, EVP & CTO, Circle K, who was interviewed by Steve Reese, CIO, Phoenix Suns. Over 270 guests attended, representing leading Arizona organizations and their technology partners.

The 2023 Arizona ORBIE Awards was made possible by the following sponsors:

Underwriters: Allata, Expedient, Google Cloud, Lumen & Snowflake
Gold sponsors: Box, Fortinet, Insight, Mastek & Vaco
Silver sponsors: Affinity, Ahead, Amazon Web Services, CDW, Dynatrace, FPT Software, Palo Alto Networks, ServiceNow, Tata Consultancy Services & Zscaler
Bronze sponsors: CCS Presentation Systems, Confluent, Iology, Slalom Consulting & Tanium
Media partner: Phoenix Business Journal
National partner: Year Up

About ArizonaCIO

ArizonaCIO is the preeminent peer leadership network of Arizona chief information officers. ArizonaCIO is one of 30 chapters of the Inspire Leadership Network, a national membership organization comprised exclusively of CIOs from public and private businesses, government, education, healthcare and nonprofit institutions.

ArizonaCIO is led by a CIO Advisory Board, supported by an executive director and staff. Underwriter executives ensure programs remain non-commercial and exclusive to qualified CIOs and members.