Official Visit of Minister Obertin and Minister Margue
Today, we had the honour to host Mrs. Stephanie Obertin, Minister for Digitalisation and Minister for Research and Higher Education, and Mrs. Elisabeth Margue, Minister of Justice and Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister for Media and Connectivity, at the LNDS offices in Belval. This visit marks an important milestone for LNDS, recognising our growing role in Luxembourg’s digital ecosystem.
Steps towards a more data-driven Luxembourg
At LNDS, our mission is to support research, innovation, and policymaking through high-quality data services. During the first part of the visit, our CEO Bert Verdonck presented the current state of the work at LNDS and how data services we develop at LNDS are aligned with the needs of national and European strategies.
We were glad to host this visit today, with a very open dialogue with both Ministers about LNDS progress and alignment with the forthcoming national Data and AI strategies.
Bert Verdonck, CEO
On one hand, our ongoing involvement in the Projet de loi n° 8395 for the national implementation of the Data Governance Act showcases the national importance of the LNDS services. Another concrete example is the capacity building to support the secondary use of health data in the context of the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Our active participation in the EH HDAB Community of Practice, EHDS2 Pilot, Joint Action TEHDAS2 support the knowledge exchange between Luxembourg and other EU Member States, ensuring that Luxembourg remains in the forefront of the development.
An End-to-End Journey of Data
The second part of the visit focused on demonstrating the impact of our data services, as well as related tooling and infrastructure. We support our data partners throughout the End-to-End data journey, a framework that covers the entire process of using data – from identifying needs to accessing and analysing. It is about making sure the right people get the right data in a secure and structured way, so they can solve real-world problems and drive innovation in research and public services.
One example is a data project on data cataloguing, with the Administration de l’Environnement (AEV), addressing the early steps of the End-to-end data journey to enhancing data transparency and data discovery. In this data project, we supported AEV to build a first internal data catalogue. Through comprehensive cataloguing initiative, 300 datasets have already been organised and published in alignment with metadata standards, making it easier to find, understand and use data for planning, policy and sustainability goals.
Another example is a data project with our data partner MyConnectivity, which addresses the latter parts of the End-to-End data journey, namely data access, analysis and visualisation. This data project focused on improving high-speed internet connectivity across Luxembourg. Through identifying the needs and merging data from multiple sources, the project resulted in an interactive map that supports decision-makers in targeting infrastructure investments for connectivity. The aim is that everyone and everywhere across Luxembourg can benefit from digital services such as remote work, online learning, or telemedicine. These demonstrations illustrate not only the possibilities of data services, but also the real-world impact of our work.
The last part of the visit focused on our strategic direction and how we are contributing in implementation of national Data & AI strategies. We are grateful for the opportunity to arrange this Ministerial visit at our offices – a valuable opportunity to share where we stand today and where we are heading. We remain committed to driving Luxembourg’s digital and data-driven future forward.