On 27 September 2023, the European Commission released the first report on the State of the Digital Decade. The report analyses the collective progress made by the EU towards achieving Europe's digital transition until 2030.
The report includes the specific Digital Decade Country Reports (previously known as Digital Economy and Society Index, DESI) that have a closer look at each Member State's individual achievements over the last year in the following four cardinal pillars: digital skills, digital infrastructure, digitalisation of public services and digitalisation of businesses.
In the 2023's report, Luxembourg has been praised for its good progress in digital transformation, which has led to innovation in data centers and digital administration as well as a more skilled workforce.
Digital Skills
According to the report, Luxembourg is demonstrating strong performance with regard to the Digital Decade objectives related to digital skills. Luxembourg ranks 2nd, after Sweden, when it comes to the number of ICT specialists represented in total employment and with 64% of the population possessing at least basic digital skills, Luxembourg ranks 7th and is well above the EU average of 54%.
Digital infrastructure
Recognized as "one of EU's best performers in digital infrastructure" by the report, Luxembourg is significantly advancing towards meeting the EU targets "Fixed Very high-capacity networks coverage" (VHCN) and "5G coverage" of 100%. Luxembourg's high-speed VHCN (rank 5) and 5G coverage (rank 7) have steadily increased in the last years, with Luxembourg having 93% coverage for both, compared to 73% respectively 81% of the EU average.
Digitalisation of public services
In terms of digital public services to people and businesses, the report underlines that Luxembourg has made great strides in this area with a score of 95 out of 100 (rank 2) for citizens and 97 (rank 5) for businesses.
Digitalisation of businesses
While the report suggests that Luxembourg shows room for improvement in the digitalisation of businesses, in particular regarding the share of businesses using cloud services and selling online, the report also states that Luxembourg performs well on the share of businesses that (1) have implemented electronic information sharing, (2) use social media, (3) analyse big data and (4) use AI.
The report then lists a series of initiatives and programmes put in place in Luxembourg to support the digitalisation of businesses and highlights the European Space Resources Innovation Centre's start-up Support Programme (ESRIC SSP) as a best practice.
It should be noted that the report did not yet take into account two important initiatives, officially announced by the Government in March and June 2023 respectively, namely the launch of the "Luxembourg Future Fund 2" which succeeds Luxembourg Future Fund 1 with a capital of EUR 200 million and the continued investment of the state in the Digital Tech Fund with the creation of a new sub-fund in the fund to stimulate the development of start-ups in Luxembourg.
"We are proud of the results in this year's Digital Decade Country Report, especially in the areas of digital infrastructure and digitalisation of public services. Nevertheless, we also recognize areas for improvement. This feedback helps Luxembourg as we need to stay in the group of digital frontrunners", stated Prime minister, minister for Communications and Media and minister for Digitalisation, Xavier Bettel.
Information on the Digital Decade Country Report (DDCR)
Since 2014, reports on the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) − the predecessor of the DDCR − have allowed the European Commission to monitor the progress made by Member States in the digital field. The DDCR report consists of country profiles and thematic chapters.
Country-specific reports on the DDCR combine quantitative data from DDCR indicators with policy considerations and best practices specific to each country.
You can access the report here, and for additional details on the methodology, please refer to this source.
Released by the Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy