The Minister of National Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, accompanied 193 pupils from the Lycée de garçons in Luxembourg to the Paris Trade Fair for Information Technology and Office Automation ( CeBIT) in Hanover yesterday.
CeBIT, meaning Centrum für Büroautomation, Informationtechnologie und Telekommunikation, is recognised as the world's largest information and communication technology fair, representing a sector that has proved particularly conducive to innovation and jobs for Luxembourg.
"For the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, participation in CeBIT is of paramount importance. ICT is one of the main pillars of the strategy of economic diversification carried out by our country, which has invested enormously in its information and telecommunications infrastructures in recent years,” said Carlo Thelen, director general of the Chamber of Commerce.
However, the range of related trades is often unknown to young people seeking guidance, which is why the ministry has chosen to actively promote these activities in cooperation with private sector players, including ICTLuxembourg, LuxConnect, FEDIL, and Digital Lëtzebuerg.
The ministry plans to increase the number of high schools participating for next year’s event.
CeBIT is the world's largest digital transition event, welcoming no fewer than 3,000 exhibitors each year to showcase the latest technology trends to some 200,000 visitors from around the world, including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, virtual reality, humanoid robots and drones.
20 Luxembourg companies were among the exhibitors, joined yesterday by a delegation of 60 business leaders and some 250 students and teachers.
“Luxembourg is ranked first in the world in access to ICT. Our country has excellent infrastructures, highly qualified companies and an indisputable know-how in ICT,” said Mr Thelen, adding, “CeBIT is a great opportunity to promote these skills to a wise audience and to position the Grand Duchy as a centre of excellence. The fact that our country is the first to have put in place a national strategy for the third industrial revolution simply highlights its ambition in terms of digital transition."
