The establishment of the Luxembourg Digital Innovation Hub is the result of a partnership between the Ministry of the Economy, FEDIL, Luxinnovation, the Chamber of Commerce, the University of Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) and the Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR).
The mission of L-DIH is to actively contribute to digital transformation by supporting companies in their strategic thinking and concrete actions.
It will facilitate contacts between companies that need access to digitalisation skills, technologies, services and support mechanisms on the one hand, and digital technology and service providers that meet the needs of industry, on the other.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Étienne Schneider said: “As an Industry 4.0 platform helping companies to successfully enter this new era, the Digital Innovation Hub further complements Luxinnovation’s service offering. As part of our digital innovation strategy, the platform supports the digital transition of the economy and is fully aligned with the efforts to diversify the national economy.”
The Luxembourg Digital Innovation Hub initiative was led by Luxinnovation and FEDIL, and supported by a survey conducted in spring 2018 among 123 companies (of which nearly half belonged the industrial sector) on their digital transformation needs.
Luxinnovation will host and manage L-DIH. The agency will be the European Commission’s national contact point, in the context of the establishment of national and regional digital innovation hubs across Europe.
“I am proud of the trust that our partners have placed in us by entrusting us with the management of L-DIH,” said Luxinnovation CEO Sasha Baillie. “We will make sure that we act in the interest of companies. Our priority is to ensure that the collaboration with all our partners is smooth and efficient, so that Luxembourg can have an exemplary platform in Europe.”
The management of this platform has been entrusted to Marina Guérin-Jabbour. She has many years of experience at IBM. She has, in particular, established two Client Innovation Centres in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) between 2014 and 2018. She was in charge of the Global Industry Solution Centre in Paris since early 2019, specialising in the development of IT solutions for companies.
“L-DIH is not just a simple platform for connecting industrial companies and solution providers,” explained Ms Guerin-Jabbour. “We master all the technical aspects, which is fundamental to enhance digital expertise and promote innovation in practice. We are facing exciting challenges that we must meet with companies and researchers in Luxembourg. Many contacts will be scheduled in the coming months.”
Gail Kent, Director Data at European Commission – DG CONNECT Luxembourg, added: “The European Commission wants, together with the Member States, to invest in a network of Digital Innovation Hubs. This is why we, at the European Commission, propose to invest 900 M€ in the creation of a network of digital hubs through the new Digital Europe Programme from 2021.”
