“We are entering a new digital era.”

“We are entering a new digital era”

The digital sector is one of the most innovative industries and comes with many challenges: 5G rollout, cybersecurity issues, public cloud adoption, and fintech solutions. An overview with Gérard Hoffmann, who leads Proximus Luxembourg, bringing together the Proximus NXT and Tango brands.

How is the digital sector performing in Luxembourg?

Gérard Hoffmann:
“It is a constantly growing market that presents many challenges. From our perspective, it is performing well. However, we observe a difference between the private and public sectors. In the private sector, industry and finance — which are more exposed to intense international competition — must keep up with the latest trends. The willingness to move forward is there, but results take time.

Digitalization of public procedures concerns all citizens, so more budget needs to be unlocked. We indeed see that state productivity is directly correlated with ICT investment, both from the public sector and from private actors.

Although Luxembourg has many IT companies, it is difficult to federate the market as it remains very fragmented. At Proximus Luxembourg, we hired more than 100 people in 2019. It is a very dynamic sector.”

What will the merger of Tango and Proximus NXT under Proximus Luxembourg bring to the digital ecosystem?

Gérard Hoffmann:
“The merger of the two companies is the culmination of a process started several years ago. Today, the brands are united under one roof. This is positive and allows us to develop new products more effectively and improve efficiency.

We were two complementary companies — one active in telecommunications, the other in IT. This merger reflects the evolution of technology, which increasingly brings these two worlds together. I would say this is an evolution, not a revolution.”

What innovations are you bringing to the Luxembourg market?

Gérard Hoffmann:
“We are currently working on several major innovations.

First, 5G — we were the first to conduct tests in Luxembourg. This technology opens up a wide range of opportunities, enabling a deeper convergence between IT and telecoms. It enhances IoT connectivity and enables higher data exchange volumes, paving the way for new B2B solutions and further digitalization of enterprises.

We are ready for deployment as soon as the government allocates frequencies and authorizations.

Cybersecurity is another fast-growing area. Luxembourg, with one of the highest levels of data protection and information security in Europe, is a particularly demanding market.

Public cloud is also a key innovation. We recently became the first Google Cloud partner in Luxembourg. We also work closely with Microsoft Azure and invest in our relationship with Amazon Web Services. We have no exclusive approach — this shows we are not afraid of public cloud. We position ourselves as a partner to help clients adopt the best hybrid solutions, combining private and public cloud, while ensuring governance and security of digital assets.

Tomorrow’s environments will be multi-layered and rely on multicloud platforms like the ones we provide.

2020 will be a pivotal year, full of change, transformation, and reinvention. We are well prepared, as we have brought all our strengths together under one company and one building.”

What about your fintech activities?

Gérard Hoffmann:
“We invest in high-value solutions for the financial sector and many other industries. We export these solutions to other countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands.

The government has created a favorable environment for fintech, and we are riding this wave. One of our flagship solutions is the DigitalKYC platform, which brings together identity verification, anti-money laundering controls, enhanced due diligence, and electronic signature validation in a single solution.

We also develop blockchain-based solutions. These are cutting-edge projects that allow us to offer exciting opportunities to engineers.”