Discover Benelux, Issue 22, October 2015

Page 54

2_1_DiscoverBenelux_22_Oct_2015_Scan Magazine 1 30/09/2015 20:48 Page 54

Discover Benelux | Business | ICT Services

DI S COV E R

B E NE L UX

B US I NE S S

ICT is revolutionising Luxembourg The ICT industry in Luxembourg is expanding fast. In the last decade it has grown so much that it now represents one of the largest sectors after the financial industry, employing around four per cent of Luxembourg’s total workforce. TEXT: MYRIAM GWYNNED DIJCK | PHOTO: COURTESY OF ICTLUXEMBOURG

With its rapid growth at a rate of almost five per cent per year – more than double the European average – there are of course hurdles to overcome. ICTLuxembourg, a non-profit lobbying organisation that promotes the industry, is bringing representatives and policy makers together to streamline regulations and encourage further expansion. To learn more about the current issues and future opportunities in the ICT industry in Luxembourg, we interviewed Gérard Hoffmann, chairman and managing director of ICT and telecom company Telindus and also chairman of ICTLuxembourg. What is the reason behind the expansion of Luxembourg’s ICT industry? There are two main drivers. Firstly, there is a shift to outsourcing ICT by mainstream businesses including banks and manufacturing companies. Where ICT services used to be in-house, they are now executed by a separate company, so this makes ICT more visible. Secondly, there is an influx of ICT companies coming to Luxembourg to set up their headquarters here. This is thanks to our regulatory and fiscal environment (although the latter is less important now) and having the competence here. Where does Luxembourg find the talent for this expansion? We already have a high concentration of ICT professionals in Luxembourg. Several

54 | Issue 22 | October 2015

European institutions are located here and they need high-quality ICT services, this also true for the financial services industry. As an example, major international ICT businesses including PayPal and Amazon have located their European headquarters here. Can you describe the current ICT environment? We are experiencing a digital revolution. Nowadays, is it very hard for companies to do anything without ICT. A good ICT framework can therefore be a differentiating suc-

cess factor. Increasingly, more specialised services are required, for example highly secured systems or ICT services that can process a lot of data at high speeds. How is ICTLuxembourg involved in this? ICTLuxembourg first started as an informal platform. Last year it launched as a nonprofit organisation so we could speak with a single voice. We bring together industry representatives to promote the sector in Luxembourg and abroad and lobby national and international institutions and regulators. We also host events, publish papers and commission studies for example on data protection. By bundling resources, we can do more ambitious pro jects, deliver better results and really get people to listen to us. How do you see the future of ICT?

Gérard Hoffmann, chairman and managing director of ICT and telecom company Telindus and chairman of ICTLuxembourg.

Currently, the main challenge is innovation. In Europe we don’t have the global ICT players like they exist in the United States or Asia. This is partly due to regulation – ICT naturally operates across borders and instead of having different laws for every country, we should aim to create a single digital regulation market in Europe. Another reason why Europe is lagging behind is our mindset and the lack of a culture of failure. ICT should become more important in education from an early age and we need a more dynamic venture capital community. Only then will Europe be able to compete at a worldwide level in the ICT sector.


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