Credit: © Luxinnovation / Michel Brumat
On Friday 6 December 2024, Luxinnovation announced the appointment of Mario Grotz as CEO from 1 March 2025.
Mario Grotz will succeed Sasha Baillie, who will take up her post as Marshal of the Court on that date.
Mario Grotz, First Government Counsellor, was head of the Directorate-General (DG) for Infrastructure and Technology of the Ministry of the Economy between 2009 and 2012. He then took over the ministry’s DG Research, Intellectual Property and New Technologies, which became DG Inter (Innovation, New Technologies and Research) in 2021. He has also chaired the Board of Directors of Luxinnovation since 2018, a position he will hand over on 1 March. He will be seconded from the Ministry for his new role as CEO, Luxinnovation confirmed.
Throughout his professional career, Mario Grotz has contributed to the development of the government's data-driven innovation strategy. This strategy has, among other things, led to the development of reliable and interoperable data infrastructures and services. As part of this strategy, Luxembourg has strengthened its position as a European data hub, Luxinnovation added, notably through initiatives such as the MeluXina supercomputer and the Luxembourg National Data Service (LNDS). These efforts are crucial for advancing innovative technologies like artificial intelligence, which depend on clean, standardised and interoperable data to function effectively and reliably.
"This appointment ensures the continuity of the work of strategic alignment with the economic development objectives pursued by the government and the transformation of the agency's organisation, carried out since 2018 under the aegis of Sasha Baillie," commented Luxembourg’s Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles.
"The Chamber of Commerce is a long-standing shareholder of Luxinnovation and our two institutions work hand in hand to support companies in their innovation needs," added Carlo Thelen, Director General of Luxembourg’s Chamber of Commerce. "We salute all the work done over the past six and a half years with Sasha Baillie and look forward to continuing this productive cooperation in perfect continuity with Mario Grotz."
Sasha Baillie expressed her satisfaction with the appointment of Mario Grotz: "Since my arrival at the head of Luxinnovation in May 2018, I have worked to put in place a strategy and a vision for the agency to support Luxembourg companies in strengthening their competitiveness through research and innovation. The internal reorganisation currently underway will allow Mario Grotz to continue this formidable challenge. He will be able to count on a multidisciplinary team of almost 100 people.”
