Luxinnovation

Coordinates: 49°37′25.51″N 6°8′53.21″E / 49.6237528°N 6.1481139°E / 49.6237528; 6.1481139

Owner	Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Established	1984
Headquarters	Luxembourg City (Kirchberg quarter),[1] Luxembourg
Administrator	Mr Gilles Schlesser (Managing Director)[2]
Official language(s)	French, German and Luxembourgish
Website	www.luxinnovation.lu

Luxinnovation is the National Agency for Innovation and Research of Luxembourg.^[3] It offers a wide variety of services to Luxembourg-based bodies from both the private and the public sector (large companies, small and medium enterprises, educational foundations, research centres, scientific & technological institutes etc.) as well as individuals (scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, students). (See Activities, services & programmes below)
In addition, Luxinnovation is the national agency that manages Luxembourg's space programme (in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Higher Education and Research). (See Luxinnovation and ESA below)

Organisation & structure

Luxinnovation was founded in 1984. It became an Economic Interest Grouping (EIG) in 1998, comprising 6 private and public-sector partners in Luxembourg:^[4][5]

• the Ministry of Culture, Higher Education and Research (MoCHER) [formerly Ministry of Higher Education and Research]
• the Ministry of the Economy and Foreign Trade (MoEFT)
• the Ministry of the Middle Classes, Tourism and Housing (MoMCTH)^{[note 1]} [formerly Ministry of the Middle Classes and Tourism]
• the Fedil – Business Federation Luxembourg (FEDIL)
• the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce (CoC)
• the Luxembourg Chamber of Skilled Crafts (CoSC)

Luxinnovation Team & Secretariat

The people employed in Luxinnovation are known as the "Luxinnovation Team".^[2] Luxinnovation's administrative body consists of the four top executive officers (Managing Director, Secretary General and Senior Executive Advisors) and is called the "Secretariat".^[8] The current members of the Luxinnovation Team are:^[2]

• Managing Director: Mr Gilles Schlesser;
• Secretary General: Ms Isabelle Schlesser;
• Senior Executive Advisors: Mr Ian Cresswell and Ms Brigitte De Haeck;
• 4 Senior Project Managers and 16 Project Managers;
• 6 Project Officers, 1 Missions Officer and 4 Administrative Assistants.

Management Council

The supervisory body of Luxinnovation is its "Management Council", which consists of representatives from the Secretariat and each of the 6 partners that comprise Luxinnovation EIG:^[9]

• President: Mr Marco Walentiny (Conseiller de Direction 1^ère classe, MoEFT);
• Vice Presidents: Mr Léon Diederich (Conseiller de Gouvernement, MoCHER) and Mr Gérard Eischen (Membre du Comité de direction, CoC);
• Members: Mr Emmanuel Baumann (Premier Conseiller de Gouvernement, MoMCTH), Mr Michel Brachmond (Directeur adjoint, CoSC) and Mr René Winkin (Secretary General, FEDIL);
• Secretary: Mr Gilles Schlesser (Managing Director, Luxinnovation);
• Assistant Secretary: Ms Brigitte De Haeck (Senior Executive Advisor, Luxinnovation);
• 6 Alternate Members (one from each of the 6 partners).

Departments

Luxinnovation is composed of 6 departments:^[8]

1. National & international R&D (Research & Development) programmes
2. Technology & cluster services
3. SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) services
4. Innovative start-up services
5. Communication
6. Documentation & studies

Funding

Luxinnovation works on an annual budget cycle and is financed by four types of funds:^[8]

1. annual contribution by each of the 6 partners for the core business of Luxinnovation;
2. specific contracts with partners of Luxinnovation (e.g. agreement for the Clusters programme with the MoEFT; agreement for the National Contact Point (NCP) activities FP7 and ESA with the MoCHER etc.); (See Services & programmes below)
3. EU financing through European projects (e.g. Innovation Relay Centre); (See Services & programmes below)
4. other national financing (e.g. agreement with the University of Luxembourg for specific services).

Mission statement

The missions of Luxinnovation are governed by its statutes. They can be identified in the following mission statement:^[10]

• "Luxinnovation, in its capacity as the National Agency for Innovation and Research, has the mission to educate, inform, encourage, advise and support companies as well as public and private research organisations and talents in order to stimulate their creativity, their Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) activities and the transfer of their RDI results. It thus contributes to increasing competitiveness and productivity, boosting the diversification and the creation of new activities and innovative companies, and enhancing the sustainable development of the economy and the well-being of people in Luxembourg".

• "By implementing the policies, programmes and initiatives of the government and responding to the needs of its target groups, Luxinnovation facilitates the access to knowledge, funding, technology, equipment, infrastructure, networks, markets and business opportunities through a portfolio of coherent services".

• "Luxinnovation intervenes at national, interregional and international level to strengthen collaboration and networking. Luxinnovation carries out awareness-raising activities in order to promote creativity and RDI and helps to improve the territorial attractiveness and the visibility of Luxembourgish economic actors and researchers, particularly abroad".

• "Managed by a strongly committed professional team, Luxinnovation advises national and European authorities and interacts with innovation agencies in Europe".

In short, Luxinnovation's missions are:

- to provide strategic information on all aspects of RDI on national and European funding, technology transfer and business start-up;

- to offer tailor-made advice and assistance on upcoming and ongoing RDI projects.

Activities, services & programmes

Fields of activities

Luxinnovation's activities encompass a wide range of faculties in Research and Development (R&D). It runs projects in the following fields:^[11][12]

• Aeronautical and Space Technologies
• Ecotechnologies and Sustainable Development
• Health Sciences and Technologies
• Human and Social Sciences
• Industrial Technologies
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
• Surface Treatment and Materials Technologies
• Skilled Crafts
• Logistics
• Maritime Activities

Services & programmes

Luxinnovation offers 4 main services:^[8]

National and international R&D programmes

• National: information and assistance to companies and research centres on State aids for co-financing research and innovation activities;^[13] collaborations include the following institutes:^[14]

- European Centre for Geodynamics and Seismology (ECGS)

- International University Institute Luxembourg (IUIL)

- Laboratory of Cancer-Related Molecular and Cellular Biology (LBMCC)

- Luxembourg Institute for European and International Studies (IEIS)

- National Health Laboratory (LNS)

- Public Health Research Centre (CRP-Santé)

- Public Research Centre Gabriel Lippmann (CPR Gabriel Lippmann)

- Public Research Centre Henri Tudor (CRP Henri Tudor)

- RESTENA Foundation (RESTENA)

- Robert Schuman Centre for European Studies and Research (CERE)

- University of Luxembourg

• International:^[8][15][16]

- COST - European Cooperation in Science and Technology: COST is an intergovernmental framework and through this programme Luxinnovation enables European cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research, allowing the co-ordination of nationally funded research on a European level^[17]

- Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP): supports innovation mainly within SMEs and fosters the competitiveness of European enterprises;^[18] CIP is composed of three specific programmes:

- Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP): supports all forms of innovation, helps SMEs in the EU, facilitates access to finance, encourages eco-innovation and promotes entrepreneurship^[19]

- ICT - Policy Support Programme (ICT-PSP): aims to develop pan-European, innovative ICT-based solutions and services, and helps overcome technical but also organisational hurdles^[20]

- Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) Programme: facilitates training on new construction techniques in buildings that can lead to energy saving and improves the effectiveness of support schemes for electricity generation from renewable energy sources^[21]

- EUREKA (E!): EUREKA is an intergovernmental initiative supporting research and innovation in all fields of activity and Luxinnovation is the EUREKA's national Coordination Secretariat in Luxembourg; as such, it provides information and assistance to companies which want to participate in this programme^[22]

- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF): stimulates growth and employment by means of investment in infrastructure and promotes growth and jobs by stimulating knowledge and RDI activities^[23]

- European Space Agency (ESA): Luxinnovation is the National Contact Point (NCP) for ESA; as such, it provides assistance and information on how ESA operates (See Luxinnovation and ESA below)

- Joint Research Centre (JCR): Luxinnovation provides customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies, primarily within the framework of the European Research Area (ERA) and therefore of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)^[24]

- Seventh Framework Programme (FP7): as NCP, Luxinnovation offers information and assistance to public and private organisations and partner searches through networks^[25] such as Ideal-ist and SECURE-FORCE:

- Ideal-ist: this initiative is mainly dedicated to finding partners for SMEs, larger companies or research institutes willing to participate in an IST (Information Society Technologies) call; project ideas can be disseminated to over 55,000 international contacts^[26]

- SECURE-FORCE: this is an ETI (Economic & Technological Intelligence) project that aims at facilitating the participation in FP7 (European Framework Programme for Research and Development) of SMEs active in the security field^[27]

Technology & cluster services

• Clusters programme: Luxinnovation runs clusters aimed at encouraging partnership and collaboration between different technological sectors; 3 clusters have been created:^[8]

1. the AeroSpace Cluster (in the field of Aeronautics and Space Technologies)
2. the InfoCom Cluster (in the field of Information and Communication Technologies)
3. the SurfMat Cluster (in the field of Surface Treatment and Materials Technologies)

• Innovation Relay Centre (IRC): Luxinnovation coordinates the Luxembourg-Trier-Saarland transnational IRC; companies can search for the specific technologies they need to innovate or promote their own expertise and meet potential partners^[8]
• Technology Transfer Networks:^[28]

- Enterprise Europe Network - Luxembourg (EEN): promotes innovation, and knowledge and technology transfer; encourages SMEs to participate in 7FP; services also provided by CoC and CoSC regarding assistance/advice, information provision, cooperation between businesses, and internationalisation^[29]

- Technology Innovation International (TII): helps participants establish working relations with colleagues in other countries, access EU programmes, exchange best practice and know-how and transfer technology across frontiers^[30][31]

Innovative start-up services

• Setting up projects for starting innovative businesses: offers advice on financing, administrative formalities, accommodation and partner search^[8]
• Industrial zones and parks for economic activities: provides companies with land or buildings fitted out to suit their requirements in order to encourage and help them to locate their business in Luxembourg^[32]
• Networks for Entrepreneurship:

- FirstTuesday Luxembourg: offers an informal meeting place free of charge on the first Tuesday of each month to investors, venture capitalists, service providers, the media, official representatives, innovators and entrepreneurs from the world of high-tech industry in order to stimulate their development; thematic events and workshops^[33]

- Interregional business plan contest "1,2,3,GO": provides project promoters and innovative entrepreneurs with free assistance to produce their business plan; Luxinnovation supports the Chamber of Commerce in the animation of this network^[34]

- Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg: develops new entrepreneurial education programmes and promote creativity among young people to introduce them to the professional world^[35]

- Luxembourg Business Angel Network (LBAN): aims to match the skills of a capital-seeking entrepreneur with those of an experienced private investor (called a Business Angel) who has management skills, time and capital to invest^[36]

- Microsoft BizSpark programme: helps accelerate the success of early stage start-ups with a fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools and technologies, and production licenses and hosters^[37]

- Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs: initiated by the European Union (EU), the programme offers practical and logistical support to new entrepreneurs throughout their stay in Luxembourg, assistance in matchmaking between host entrepreneurs and new entrepreneurs, follow-up of entrepreneurs' relationships, and enhances networking between business people and SMEs^[38]

• Ecostart Enterprise and Innovation Centres: supports companies hosted at Ecostart, promotes and animates the Centres^[39]
• Hosingen Relay Centre "Op der Hei": provides accommodation to innovative businesses in the start-up phase - located in the north of Luxembourg (Hosingen) - to help them limit their expenses during the first years of their existence; the relay centre principle was introduced by SICLER (Intercommunal Association for the Promotion of the Canton of Clervaux) together with the MoEFT ^[40]
• Intellectual property: offers first advice and organisation of seminars on the following topics:^[41]

1. Copyright (applicable law, rights granted, financial rights, moral rights, criteria, duration of protection, related rights, register of copyrights)^[42]
2. Designs (general presentation, Benelux design, EU design, international design)
3. Patents (general presentation, national patent, EU patent, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international registration)
4. Trademarks for products and services (general presentation, Benelux trademark, international protection, Marque Communautaire)

SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) services

• Encouraging innovation in skilled-craft companies: proactive visits, organisation of seminars, publications, technology transfer offers, promotion of the innovation incentive scheme^[8]
• Financial support and grants: Luxinnovation offers advice on financing^[13]
• Promotion of Innovation Management Techniques (IMT): organises seminars^[43]
• InnoNet innovation diagnostic tool: a questionnaire evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of companies with regard to innovation^[8]
• ProInno DeLux: interregional project for fostering potential for innovation in skilled-craft companies in the metalworking and processing sector^[8]

Each of the above-mentioned services is offered by Luxinnovation's corresponding department. In addition, Luxinnovation's Communication Department devises, manages and animates its own programmes, such as "The Luxembourg Portal for Innovation and Research"^[8] and the "Luxembourg Cluster Initiative" (LCI);^[44] the Documentation & Studies Department is also involved in several studies projects (ERAWATCH, INNO-Policy TrendChart etc.).^[8]

Luxinnovation and ESA

In Luxembourg, space activities are managed by the Ministry of Culture, Higher Education and Research in cooperation with Luxinnovation.^[3][5] Luxembourg signed a Cooperation Agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) on 12 September 2000 and became a full member on 30 June 2005.^[45] During this 5-year period as a Cooperating State, Luxembourg collaborated with ESA via the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programmes 1, 3, 5 and 8.^[46] Luxinnovation facilitates Luxembourg's space programme and acts as the National Contact Point (NCP) for ESA; it manages the interface between industry, the public research sector and ESA.^[5] As such, Luxinnovation provides companies and research centres and laboratories with information on how ESA operates and the various approaches that can be adopted to its programmes. Luxinnovation can also offer advice and support to entrepreneurs and researchers willing to work with ESA.^[3][46] Luxembourg being a member of ESA enables companies and research centres to take part in numerous European space projects in various fields such as:^[46]

• Earth, Sun & Space observation;
• Development of advanced electronics and precision mechanics technologies;
• Development of satellites and booster rockets;
• Implementation of telecommunication and satellite navigation systems as well as platforms for broadcasting multimedia content via satellite.

Luxembourg is home to two of the leading satellite operators in the world (Intelsat and SES).^[47] It manages a combined fleet of more than 100 satellites (as of February 2011, Intelsat operates a fleet of 58 satellites^[48] and SES has a fleet of 44).^[49] The space industry is a key high-tech sector for Luxembourg. Luxembourg's budget in the space sector was €14.2 million in 2009^[5] and Luxembourg's contribution to the ESA budget was €11.5 million for 2011.^[50] Many highly advanced technology companies now operate in the space sector of Luxembourg, such as Euro-Composites (EC), Gradel, HITEC Luxembourg and LuxSpace. The space research conducted by the University of Luxembourg, as well as the Public Research Centre Gabriel Lippmann and the Public Research Centre Henri Tudor, boost and foster space activities in Luxembourg and encourage technical and scientific cooperation as well as technology transfer between the public and private sectors.^[51] As NCP, Luxinnovation is the mediator between ESA and the Luxembourg-based companies and institutes engaged in space activities and research. Luxinnovation is also a member of the Luxembourg Aeronautics and Space Industry group GLAE (Groupement Luxembourgeois de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace) along with several companies which operate in the space sector and other technology fields.^[52]

New Media Support Centre and DemoLab

An ESA project facilitated by Luxinnovation is the New Media Support Centre (NMSC).^[53] It is designed to support the satellite communication (satcom) sector and it reflects the changing needs of the satcom sector which ESA aims to support, covering space, ground and applications sectors development and promotion. It also offers a basis for innovation and cross-fertilisation of ideas in the satellite technology domain. Luxinnovation's objective is to help small, medium and large businesses and institutes manage the risk of exploring new and cross-discipline satellite technologies, providing them with all the technical and logistical support needed to make full use of the facilities offered. The NMSC beneficiaries include the satellite industry, research and development institutes, applications developers and equipment manufacturers.

Access to satellite capacity will be made available on a time-share basis - including fixed steerable and transportable uplink stations certified for several operators. Indoor equipment will also be made available to support satellite access including DVB modulators and demodulators, MPEG encoders and IP/DVB gateway/servers for the encapsulation of IP packets into TS cells and housekeeping. Time-shared access to 2 distribution platforms designed for multicast distribution across Europe will be possible as well as satellite terminal loans in combination with the previous equipment.

The NMSC aims at being the home for innovative ideas relating to satellite technologies and their elaboration. Concentrating know-how and technical facilities in one place to improve efficiency and quality, it will offer technical support in installations and operations. The NMSC will offer a test and development environment for services, applications and equipment which combine any of the traditional disciplines of telecommunications (multimedia, mobile or broadcast), navigation and Earth imaging, and employ satellite communications in some form. In practice, technologies for developing tele-medicine, tele-education, advanced satellite networks or satellite-based emergency management systems. It will also provide access to facilities in satellite capacity, satellite networks, terminals in a DemoLab with real-time or off-line demonstration of applications.

The DemoLab is a laboratory space which will be made available, including supporting informatics infrastructure compatible for installing and demonstrating off-line or in real-time several application platforms, which are compatible with typical applications such as tele-education, internet-via-satellite, tele-medicine etc. The DemoLab will serve:

• for hands-on training and support for thematic workshops;
• as an "applications show room" for several applications;
• for testing/evaluation of new applications and services.

It is intended to organise regular workshops and demonstrations for potential users of satellite applications, following pre-defined utilization patterns agreed with the application platforms developers. Initially, applications developed in Telecom would be the first to be included in the DemoLab. The configuration of the DemoLab will be flexible in order to be easily adaptable to the intended thematic workshop or training activity.^[53][54]

See also

	Luxembourg portal
	European Space Agency portal
	Science portal
	Technology portal
	Space portal
	European Union portal

References

External links

• Official website (English) and (French)

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