Luxinnovation has put sustainability at the heart of its 2022-2025 strategic plan. Silicon Luxembourg caught up with its CEO Sasha Baillie to discuss the finer points of the plan, their new Sustainability Innovation Hub and the importance of a human-centred approach.
Luxinnovation’s 2022-2025 strategic plan states that you have reframed Luxinnovation’s mission to align it with broader national and international strategies to develop “a sustainable and competitive digital economy”. To what extent are sustainability and digitalisation policies complementary?
Digitalisation and sustainability are naturally complementary, as technologies are able to make companies more efficient and resilient. More specifically, digital technologies in areas such as energy, circular construction, smart mobility or sustainable food production can facilitate the transition to a low-carbon circular economy.
What is certain is that the health and economic crisis we have been experiencing since spring 2020 has forced us to rethink many of the ways we do things. And digitisation is one of the ways in which we can do this because it offers solutions that will turn the challenges we face into real opportunities, not only for the country’s businesses but for the economy as a whole.
The actors who rise to these challenges and embrace digital technologies, or even adapt their business model, are more likely to be at the forefront of the digital and data-driven sustainable economy of the future.
“[…] just like information and communication technologies, Cleantech is clearly positioning itself as an enabler for all sectors.”
Sasha Baillie, CEO of Luxinnovation
Traditionally, sustainability is made up of 3 pillars (social, environmental and economic). Which of these pillars does Luxinnovation focus on the most? Why?
It is not really possible to abandon one pillar in favour of another. Of course, our actions with companies have a direct impact on their economic performance and their environmental impact. But the human, and therefore social, dimension is also something that we need to embed deeply in our efforts when helping businesses and the economy to become more sustainable through innovation and digital transformation.
It is the human interaction that must stimulate us, it is the feeling of contributing to something bigger which must give meaning to what we do. A human-centred approach is what should enable individuals and teams to design products and services that meet the basic needs of those who need them.
What key elements of the strategic plan will enable Luxinnovation to contribute to the transition towards a more sustainable economy?
Like digitalisation, the sustainability of actions carried out by companies or public authorities cannot be limited to a few key points on a strategic roadmap. These are clearly two areas that are totally cross-cutting and can be found at all levels. This is why we decided to bring together all the activities of our clusters relating to the sustainable use and transformation of resources in a single Sustainability Innovation Hub.
This will allow us to better streamline all sustainability-related projects, from the initial idea to implementation. This will make it easier to identify sustainability-related innovation needs and opportunities and to make recommendations that will help the government achieve its goal of a competitive sustainable economy.
Which sectors have the greatest untapped potential for transitioning towards a more sustainable and competitive economy?
Here again, the answer is rather transversal because just like information and communication technologies, Cleantech is clearly positioning itself as an enabler for all sectors.
Luxembourg has assets in terms of talent, geographical location, languages and infrastructure. I am thinking, for example, of the MeluXina high-performance computer, whose computing capacities are widely available to private players. At all levels, the country can be a real life-size testbed, even a living laboratory for many initiatives.
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Read the full digital version of the magazine on our website, here. You can also choose to receive a hard copy at the office or at home. Subscribe now.
