Businesses in Luxembourg have been slower to adopt recent technological advances such as AI, cloud computing and data analytics than in other EU countries, according to a European Commission report published on Tuesday.
Just over 52% of companies in the Grand Duchy have adopted the latest digital tools, compared to 54.6% across the wider EU, the report found.
The commission called on Luxembourg to engage more with SMEs that have been slow to digitise and convince them of the competitive advantages that come with AI and data analytics.
In general, basic computer skills in Luxembourg are better than average across the EU, but the country’s progress in expanding digitalisation has slowed, the report found.
Three in five people in Luxembourg – 60.1% across all ages and sectors of society – have at least basic computer skills, above the EU average of 55.6%.
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“However, recent annual progress is slow, although equipping people with digital skills and fostering digital inclusion is a priority for Luxembourg,” the Commission’s latest ‘Digital Decade’ report for the country concluded.
The report also mentions limits on digitalisation in healthcare, noting that Luxembourg does not yet have electronic prescriptions or ID. “Although all citizens in Luxembourg have by default an electronic health record, the volume of health data accessible remains limited,” it noted.
Among areas for praise, the report found that Luxembourg’s 5G network is better developed than most of Europe, and that its internet infrastructure is also very good – with 94.7% of households covered by very-high-capacity networks. The country also has double the concentration of ICT specialists in its workforce, at 8%, compared to the EU average of 4.8%.
The EU Digital Decade is a project running throughout the 2020s that aims to make Europe more tech-savvy. The project assesses each member state individually, setting targets for improvement.