Internet in Luxembourg: Resilience through self-determination

Derived from the psychological origin, the term “Internet resilience” refers to the ability of a cyber infrastructure to withstand outages and to continue operation in the case of partial damage or unavailability. As with humans, sovereignty plays a central role, in other words: a largely autonomous infrastructure with direct access. This makes it possible, for example, to keep the quality of connectivity in a region or country high and, if necessary, to respond quickly to any crisis – such as a cyber-attack. Another aspect is a diversified offer on the market, which is also a key criterion with regard to connectivity for all.

In times of rapidly advancing digitalisation, very high-capacity communications networks are the backbone of socio-economic progress. Our daily lives are largely digital; the virtual world can no longer be separated from the real world. Access to a functioning Internet is therefore a basic need, akin to access to electricity, water or food. This necessity applies to private households – but also to companies of all sizes. According to the Internet Society Pulse, 97% of companies worldwide stated that reliable, resilient connectivity is essential for business success – and private users share this need.

Pulse, an organization that has been analysing Internet infrastructures globally since 2020, awards Luxembourg top marks for resilience. According to Pulse, Luxembourg has one of the highest levels of overall “Internet resilience” in Western Europe and one of the highest globally when accounting for population size. This is also thanks to the fact that two thirds of Luxembourg’s most popular accessed content is hosted in the country or in the region, which contributes to the government’s objective to provide citizens and businesses in Luxembourg with stable and high performing networks.

Michel Lanners, CIO at LU-CIX Management G.I.E. , explains this as follows: “It is not about better or worse technology, but about having maximum access to relevant infrastructures by having them around us.” This is a key part of LU-CIX’s mission as a national Internet platform connecting critical networks and hosting international content providers in a secure and trusted environment. As part of this mission, LU-CIX GIE co-launched, on the initiative of the Ministry of State’s Department of Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy, MyConnectivity in 2022, with the aim of giving everyone living and working in Luxembourg real-time access to future-proof ultra-high-speed connectivity –  while maintaining sovereign control over it.

Michel Lanners cites the national instant messaging solution Luxchat, which is available for the entire population and all businesses, as the latest example of Internet resilience made in Luxembourg. Luxchat was launched in 2023 by multiple Luxembourg companies with the support of LU-CIX GIE, the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Digitalisation. It ensures secure and confidential communication between two or more people or – in its Luxchat4Gov version – between public sector employees. Michel Lanners sees the new free service, which does not use any personal data, as a customised solution for a rapidly changing world: “In times of crisis and war, people and companies long for predictable and reliable services. This is particularly true for the Internet, because modern conflicts are increasingly being fought out in hybrid form.”