The Luxembourg government and the ICT sector have committed to furthering the digital transformation of Luxembourg.
On 10 July 2017, ICTluxembourg and representatives of its member federations met with the government, represented by Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Etienne Schneider, Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna, and their collaborators. This meeting, which takes place annually as part of the Digital Lëtzebuerg initiative, is an opportunity to reflect on the work carried out and the actions to be taken for the development of the digital sector.
ICTluxembourg highlighted the importance of the government’s economic vision for the country, notably through the Rifkin study with a strong digital component and supported by a new branding nation "Let's make it happen", which aims to strengthen the image of Luxembourg on the international scene.
The Government underlined the importance of collaboration and exchanges between the public and private sectors in order to advance the Luxembourg economy and support the development of the ICT sector.
In addition, ICTluxembourg welcomed the various initiatives taken by the government, including the project of common European interest (IPCEI) in the field of High Performance Computing (HPC) coordinated by Luxembourg, the establishment of the "Digital Tech Fund", as well as the adoption of the May law on the renewal of research, development and innovation aid schemes to facilitate the granting of RDI (research, development and innovation) subsidies, and the creation of the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies (LHoFT).
Other initiatives include the launch of the Cyber Security Competence Center (C3), the drafting a bill for a new "IP Box" regime to attract new investments that build on intellectual property, the expansion of public provision in terms of enrolment, in particular with the creation of public and international schools, and the launch of the "InfraChain" initiative, which capitalises on the Luxembourg ecosystem for the creation of a regulated blockchain platform.
Additionally, at the meeting, the government and ICT Luxemburg have agreed to act jointly on the following actions: to increase the visibility of the ICT sector abroad with state visits and economic missions, to organise a workshop on research aid to present the new provisions of the law of 17 May 2017, and to build a closer relationship with SMILE (Security made in Lëtzebuerg) to raise awareness of the availability of this tool to support them in their cyber security policy.
Finally, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel asked for a follow-up meeting between the coordination unit of "Digital Lëtzebuerg", which brings together the representatives of the three ministers and ICTluxembourg, in order to follow up on the issues raised during the meeting.
Photo by ICT Luxembourg. L-R: Jean-François Willame, President of Federation of Alternative Operators Luxembourg (OPAL); Denis Stoz, Vice-President of Finance & Technology Luxembourg (FTL); Vincent Lekens, Vice-President of ICTluxembourg, President of Federation of Integrators; Amal Choury, Vice-President of Cloud Community Europe Luxembourg (CCEL); Gérard Hoffmann, Chairman of ICTluxembourg, Chairman of FEDIL-ICT; François Drazdik, Senior Industry Affairs Adviser; Marc Hemmerling Counsel Digital Banking & FinTech, Association of Banks and Bankers Luxembourg (ABBL)
