PM Xavier Bettel Discusses Digitalisation, Data Protection at World Economic Forum

Luxembourg's Prime Minister and Minister of State, Xavier Bettel, is currently participating for the sixth time in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On the occasion of his visit, Xavier Bettel has met with many political and economic decision-makers, as well as representatives of civil society in an informal setting to discuss current political, economic and social issues. Bilateral exchanges mainly revolved around the subjects of digitalisation, including its consequences on the world of work and industry, as well as the fight against global warming, in particular the concrete efforts of Luxembourg in this field.

In total, Luxembourg's Prime Minister has had thirty bilateral meetings, including with the Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, the CEOs of Cisco, PayPal, Apple and ArcelorMittal and the vice-presidents of Google and Facebook.

During his meeting with Luca Visentini, ETUC Confederal Secretary, Xavier Bettel reiterated the importance of social dialogue as a key element of the Luxembourg societal model, which aims to guarantee prosperity and social peace. According to the Prime Minister, experience shows that countries with solid social dialogue institutions have more efficient economies and are more resistant to crisis situations. He also took the opportunity to congratulate the ETUC on its defence of fundamental social values ​​such as solidarity, equality, democracy, social justice and cohesion.

Xavier Bettel then met with Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco Systems, to discuss in particular the Country Digital Acceleration Programme, an initiative through which the company provides its know-how as well as the technical infrastructure for connectivity needs via digital networks to participating countries, including Luxembourg. This exchange enabled the Prime Minister to highlight the success of this iniative in Luxembourg. He commented: “I am very happy that Cisco is investing in the digital future of Luxembourg. The public-private partnership with the University of Luxembourg has been strengthened and ambitious research projects have been launched. This is proof of our excellent cooperation”.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister also met with Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, to discuss the developments in the industry sector in light of digitalisation, as well as the challenges that the fight against climate change poses for the steel industry, in particular the need to design carbon neutral production methods. In this context, Xavier Bettel noted: “Luxembourg is proud of its industrial past and we remain attached to ArcelorMittal due to our common history. A sustainable industry is important for our country, not only for employment reasons, but also for the induced effects it has on innovation and research. The steel industry is much more modern than it seems and is able to make a decisive contribution to achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement on climate change".

That same day, Xavier Bettel met with Karan Bhatia, Vice President of Google, on the subject of digitalisation, connectivity and the use and storage of data. According to the Prime Minister, digitalisation is based on secure data storage. Thus, the government's decision to make Luxembourg a leader in the field of data storage was born from the modern needs of end users and actors in the sector. To this end, Luxembourg today has the highest density of so-called “TIER IV” data centres in Europe, which may provide citizens and businesses with long-term and sustainable means to carry out their projects and thus help to maintain Luxembourg's competitiveness on the world stage.

In a meeting with Nick Clegg, Vice President of Facebook, Luxembourg's Prime Minister reiterated the importance of transparency in the collection and use of personal data. In light of the omnipresence of social media, Xavier Bettel recalled that "digital transformation must be at the service of citizens - which cannot be guaranteed without transparent and clear digital governance. Each of us, including Facebook and other social networks must take responsibility and help build a more informed, inclusive and secure society that will guarantee long-term social cohesion”.

The Prime Minister also met with Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal, whose European headquarters are in Luxembourg. Xavier Bettel and Dan Schulman discussed opportunities in the FinTech sector before reviewing the first results following the launch of the PayPal-FNR PEARL Chair at the University of Luxembourg. This collaboration between PayPal, the National Research Fund and the University of Luxembourg enables scientific research to be carried out on the digital transformation of financial services being at the intersection of finance and technology. Xavier Bettel commented: "This partnership supports the government's objective of making the country a world leader in innovative financial services and we are grateful for PayPal's vote of confidence in the Luxembourg research ecosystem".

His meeting with Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, focused on the need to accelerate the completion of the European digital single market. Xavier Bettel stated: “With our advanced ICT infrastructure, 90% of the population has access to broadband Internet, and with our new national 5G roadmap, we also aim to be among the pioneers of mobile connectivity. Mobile connectivity no longer stops at borders - that's why, at the European level, we continue to push for a real European digital single market”.

This was followed by a meeting with Bob Moritz, CEO of PWC, on developments in the world of technology, such as digital transformation and artificial intelligence. In this context, Xavier Bettel remarked: "For Luxembourg, artificial intelligence does not consist in replacing human interaction, but rather is a vehicle to facilitate an experience [that is] even more personalised, instantly gratifying and frictionless for citizens".

During his stay in Davos, Luxembourg's Prime Minister also participated in panel discussions, notably on the inclusion of people from the LGBTI+ community, as well as the role of media and communication in a constantly changing world.