Google opens office in Luxembourg

There have always been discussions for years. This time it is official: Google Get foot in Luxembourg. With the opening of his first office on Boulevard Royal 53, the California Riese is now becoming a concrete player in the Luxembourg technology landscape. With its plans in Luxembourg, Google weaves a network that should ultimately redefine the digital future of the country.

The Project of a sovereign Luxembourg Cloud The name Clarence, which emerged from a partnership between Luxconnect, Proximus and Google, was undoubtedly not innocent that the colossus from Mountain View arrived in the Grand Duchy.

Google technologies in the service of partners and start-ups

Specifically, the new office, which consists of Google cloud experts, will offer offline cloud services for public and private institutions, institutions and international organizations. « It is a 'Go-to-Market' office (with a sales and advertising team) that will concentrate on accelerating the introduction of cloud technology by offering training, building a strong local ecosystem of partners and start-ups and enables companies to use the full potential of cloud and AI solutions, » said Anthony Cirot, Vice President of Google Cloud Emea South.

For him, Luxembourg is a « vital » innovation center. « With this expanded presence, we would like to enable companies and citizens in Luxembourg to use technologies, promote innovations and to build a successful digital future for the country. »

So far, however, the number of employees who will work in the new branch in Luxembourg has been agreed. The Vice President of Google Cloud only replied that « you open an office in Luxembourg because we have ambitious goals here ».

In addition, the establishment of a competence center in Luxembourg in cooperation with the University of Luxembourg was announced. This center will focus on research and training and act as an incubator in the field of cyber security and AI. This is to ensure that students, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and the wider ecosystem have the right digital skills in order to keep up in the AI ​​age.

« The competence center is intended to strengthen Luxembourg's reputation as a leading country in AI and cyber security research, which will make the country even more attractive for top talents. »

Yves Le Traon, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Security, Reliability and Trust (SNT) of the university at which the excellence center will be located, spoke of an « extraordinary opportunity » for the SNT. This could increase research activities in the field of digital sovereignty with Google Cloud. This partnership does not limit itself to today's technologies, but anticipates the developments of tomorrow and their effects.

What about the data center in Bissen?

In addition, Google.org, the philanthropical arm of Google, will provide $ 500,000 $ 15 million from its seminar program on cybersecurity for the University of Luxembourg. This investment is intended to support a study program that offers students practical training to protect local organizations from internships, mentoring and hackathons from cyber threats.

The news was officially announced on Thursday in the presence of several government members, including Prime Minister Luc Frieden (CSV). “Luxembourg further expands its sovereign data economy by moving numerous actors into our ecosystem. The inauguration of the Google office and the competence center is further evidence of this will, ”he added.

But what about a Google data center in Bissen? Anthony Cirot answered this question: “We have to be prepared for such projects. At the moment I have nothing to announce, but maybe one day … « 

This article first appeared at Virgule. Translation and processing: Melanie Ptok.