Data Diplomat. Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel on technology, culture and people | #DigitalFIRST #DigitalLuxembourg #ICT #Europe | Luxembourg (Europe) | Scoop.it

Technology has the power to change lives. For better or for worse, there seems to be no way back but only forward, and governments all over the world are gearing up their digital efforts to cope with an ever-growing tech-savvy global society.
Luxembourg leads up some of Europe’s most technologically advanced nations, not only from indeed a technological standpoint, but a whole infrastructure, government and business ecosystem that allows the sector to create, innovate and expand. In an exclusive interview, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, speaks to Data Economy’s João Marques Lima on his views of technology, how Luxembourg is positioned to win and what the future holds not only for the Western European nation but the wider continent.


On October 10, 2006, the Government of Luxembourg took a different approach. They realised the future belongs to digital and with that in mind the government set up the backbone for what it is today an established data centre hub within the Luxembourgish border.

Having gone from the steel industry to the financial and satellite business roadmaps in the 1970s, on that day back in 2006, when Jean-Claude Juncker was still serving as Prime Minister – a role he would only leave in 2013 to become President of the European Commission -, the country officially started a new era built on data centres through the creation of operator LuxConnect.

Ever since, Luxembourg has seen not only its data centre infrastructure footprint expand, but also its fiber, energy generation, research labs, and much more, which has created an extraordinary hub in the heart of Europe, not only for financial services, but to all other verticals, including foreign Governments through the launch of Data Embassies.

Succeeding Juncker and continuing to carry the flame of tech is current Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, a truly digital diplomat with an understanding of how technology can improve lives.

 

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

 

http://www.scoop.it/t/luxembourg-europe/?tag=Digital+L%C3%ABtzebuerg

 

https://www.scoop.it/t/luxembourg-europe/?&tag=Digital+First