CTIE 50th anniversary; Credit: SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen

Luxembourg's Ministry of Digitalisation and the Centre for State Information Technologies (CTIE) has reported that for its 50th anniversary, it organised an event last Friday 14 June in the presence of the Minister for Digitalisation, Stéphanie Obertin.

For 50 years, the CTIE has been supporting government ministries and administrations in the digitalisation of their services. The law of 29 March 1974 created a State IT centre entrusted with the tasks of organising the automation of administrations and assisting in their current IT work.

The history of administration is closely linked to that of information technology: according to the ministry, few areas have seen comparable development and have had a significant impact on society, the world of work and the functioning of the CTIE.

Given the rise of technologies, the CTIE has also grown rapidly over the last 50 years, both in its mission and in its scope. It was here that in 1974 the administration employed 30 staff, now totalling over 600, which underlined the importance of its role as provision of IT services for the Luxembourg State.

For the past 50 years, ministries and administrations have benefited from modern digital services and are currently undergoing major developments in the field of ICT. This was confirmed by CTIE director Patrick Houtsch, who, during his presentation during the anniversary celebrations, expressed the overwhelming commitment of the administration's employees.

Minister Obertin thanked the CTIE agents, both present and past. It is largely thanks to their development, which means that Luxembourg can now offer efficient and secure digital public services. “We want to put everything into practice to offer high-performance services to citizens and companies. The CTIE, as the central IT provider of the State, is a partner of choice that continues to demonstrate its know-how and expertise."

A wide range of modern digital services

The CTIE is now an essential part of national operations. It is responsible for IT services for the government, ministries and Luxembourg administrations and ensures, in this context, a vast range of missions.

Its services cover all areas of ICT: the exploitation and development of the state's IT infrastructure with its secure network, data centres and GovCloud as well as the implementation and deployment of IT platforms and customised software solutions. The CTIE also manages the office and telephone operations of ministries and administrations and is responsible for the implementation of the security of the State's IT infrastructure.

In terms of eGovernment, the CTIE is one of the central players and has a range of modern and easy-to-use digital services via its online portals Guichet.lu and MyGuichet.lu, as well as via the physical Guichet in Luxembourg-Ville where those less digitally-minded can come to terms with their actions.

On this subject, Minister Obertin declared: “Technology must not put citizens at risk. Discussions are well underway at the Ministry and at the CTIE with a view to decentralising the physical gateway, to reaching people dispersed across different regions in the country and also to preventing a potential digital disruption. To better understand all of these missions, the CTIE can count on the support of the Ministry of Digitalisation. This is not, thanks to this specific support, because the CTIE is able to respond to the rapid digitalisation demands of administrations and to offer all the IT services they need for citizens and companies of innovative and efficient public services".

eGovDay 2024

Some 200 heads of administration, IT and digitalisation from over 80 national entities were able to inform themselves of this vast offer during the eGovDay2024 event, which marked the start of this day of celebration. Participants were able to attend 12 presentations dedicated to opportunities linked to new technologies (data, cloud and artificial intelligence) as well as to recent evolutions of digital platforms underway by the CTIE.

When the event was officially opened by Minister Obertin, she insisted on the importance of this event which brings together national entities every year on issues related to digitalisation. In 2024, the programme will pay particular attention to the primary issue of data retention management by the State.

During her speech, Minister Obertin particularly highlighted that the draft law concerning the implementation of the Digital Government Act and which reinforces the obligation of the Once Only principle to the State to enter into the legislative process. Once voted, this law draft would contribute greatly to the creation of a genuine public service based on data and acting in its functionality.