The 2023 Partnership Day of the University of Luxembourg’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), welcomed audiences from across society when it was held at the European Congress on 11 May. Below are some of the highlights.
Hype Cycle Being Squeezed
In his entertaining opening speech SnT head of technology transfer office Carlo Duprel tackled the challenges of translating “state of the art research into successful business solutions which address societal challenges at initiating positive change,” specifically the Gartner Hype Cycle. “At some point, it starts with an innovation trigger, which could be a new business idea research result just a crazy idea that everybody talks about and everybody wants to have a piece of the pie.”
Applied to AI, he said that the hype cycle, the hype cycle has become squeezed, resulting in every conversation sounding like a game of “buzzword bingo, where people randomly glue buzzwords together and sound very intelligent.” With a tongue-in-cheek conclusion, he suggested that while NFTs were sunk, and the metaverse was drowning, in 2023 society has been saved by AI and ChatGPT, highlighting that questions still remain over their use.
Bye Bye Björn
The 2023 SnT day marked the last for Björn Ottersten in his position as director of SnT. After three mandates spanning fifteen years, Professor Ottersten will step down in six months.
“You have been a stroke of luck for our university, for research colleagues inside the SnT, for the young colleagues inside SnT, for our industrial partners, and if I may say, even for Luxembourg,” director of the University of Luxembourg Jens Kreisel said, adding: “You have built a critical mass of experts in the field of IT which are missing this country and which are critical to Luxembourg.” Kreisel paid tribute to Ottersten’s position as “one of the very best researchers of this country,” and described him as a man “who does what he says, and that is an enormous quality.” Prof. Ottersten is expected to remain at the university as a professor.
“I think the university has to take an even stronger step towards partnerships, and especially also towards strategic international partnerships.”
Jens Kreisel, University of Luxembourg Rector
Vice-Rector For Partnership
To mark its twentieth anniversary, the University of Luxembourg has created a Vice Rector for partnership and International Relations, “because I think the university has to take an even stronger step towards partnerships, and especially also towards strategic international partnerships,” said Jens Kreisel, University Rector since 1 January 2023. He underlined the importance of partnerships for attracting talent, a critical element for successful employers. Kreisel reminded the audience that of the 1,000 PhD students at the university, 55% remain in Luxembourg for the first job, and 45% for the second. “This is retaining experts who have been collaborating with partners in this country, be they with industry, or be they with the government,” he said, adding: “We have a talent factory!”
Future Spinoffs
The SnT partnership day is a chance to showcase collaborative research projects with technology partners, tackling industry problems. Of the 70 partnerships showcased, there were also five booths dedicated to projects in which the SnT identified a commercial value, priming them for spinoffs in the coming years. Among those primed for launch in the coming 18 months were SIGCOM, a technology providing 5G connectivity via satellites to bridge the coverage gap, SHARCS, developing off-the-shelf, hardware which is tolerant to high radiation, and SVALINN, a technology solution providing security for digital assets.
