Testbed for innovative products

Innovative thinking

Luxembourg has always impacted the world by thinking out of the box. Take, for example, Radio Luxembourg, which with an innovative concept of multilingual programmes using the same wavelength became a European pioneer in commercial radio broadcasting. Or, some decades later, another audacious venture backed by the government: the creation of SES, today the world’s leading content connectivity provider with over 70 satellites in orbit.

And it does not stop there. Luxembourg was the second country in the world to adopt a legal framework on the exploitation and use of space resources and the first country in the world to make all public transport free of charge. It is home to a unique, business-oriented high performance computer, a leading green and sustainable finance centre thanks to its openness to financial innovation, and one of the partners in Europe’s first three-country cross-border digital testbed for automated and connected driving. These examples, and many more, illustrate why Luxembourg provides a fertile ground for developing innovative products and services.

Agile country

Another strength lies in the close understanding by policy makers of the needs and opportunities of companies and their interest in the technologies that drive business. This makes them able to put in place frameworks and regulations that are catalysts, rather than roadblocks, to innovation. Coupled with the concern to ensure that legislation takes due account of the impact on companies and the availability of top-level infrastructure, Luxembourg offers a safe, secure environment for companies wishing to geolocalise, test and certify their products and services for the EU market.

Luxembourg also benefits from its manageable size and highly diverse, international population. All types of infrastructure as well as demographic groups and socio-economic settings (the capital, densely populated industrial areas and rural villages) are available within a very short distance. This contributes to making Luxembourg an attractive living lab.

Research cooperation

Luxembourg is also a land of research where research organisations cooperate with the private sector and work with companies on product development and tests. Cooperation between private companies and public research centres is actively encouraged, and both European and national grants are available for R&D and innovation projects.

Key research organisations working together with companies notably include:

• The research-driven University of Luxembourg, which focuses on fields such as data modelling and simulation, health and systems biomedicine, materials sciences, computer science and ICT security, law, finance and financial innovation.
  • Its Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), which carries out internationally competitive research in ICT, engaging in demand-driven collaborative projects via its Partnership Programme.
  • Its Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), which accelerates biomedical research by closing the links between systems biology and medical research. It fosters collaboration with industrial partners and promotes the translation of fundamental research into clinical applications.
• The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), which carries out interdisciplinary research across the entire innovation chain in the research areas of materials, IT, the environment and space. It develops competitive and market-oriented product/service prototypes for public and private stakeholders.
• The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH), which focuses on biomedical research on disease mechanisms and contributes to the development of new diagnostics, preventive strategies, innovative therapies and clinical applications.