Two weeks ago, for the latest edition of IT Days, more than 250 professionals from the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg met at PwC's Crystal Park to discuss the digital transformation of their companies, the role of the cloud, and the advent of the CDO function. A panel moderated by Dr. Roman Friedrich, Partner at PwC's strategy consulting service - Strategy&, brought together local experts David Hagen (CIO, CSSF), Remy Els (Head of Information Systems, Foyer Assurances) and Alain Herrmann (IT/New technologies, CNPD).

First the experts discussed the digital transformation of the companies/authorities they work for with a focus on how they handle it on a daily basis. "At Foyer, the focus is put on customers" started Remy Els, pointing out the fact that the insurance industry in general lacks customer interaction: "Companies and customer both need a new digital experience". At Foyer, the digital challenge is put on all the C-levels of the company, with a top-down strategy. Yet, Remy Els admits that it means a total change of mindset for CIOs. David Hagen, who's responsible for IT supervision at the CSSF, often deals with professionals in charge of digital transformation, even if he does net meet CDOs very often in Luxembourg: "CDOs actually never present themselves as CDOs. They act as it, but don't have the title. I also deal with a lot of start-ups and they have a CDO by default". According to Mr. Els, companies need to try new technologies and fail fast: "We focus on technology, which therefore creates a nucleus and it attracts skilled people".

 

David Hagen also sees the digital transformation of the banking sector moving step by step but notices that many new services on the payment side are being created, especially in Luxembourg. Regulation and data protection remain a big issue: "Startups sometimes tend to forget data privacy, and we need to make sure they assess the risk correctly, both on the technology and business sides". Alain Hermann, from the CNPD (National Commission for Data Protection) can only agree: "Most people see data protection as a big constraint, but it can actually bring a new value to companies. They need to reorganize and make money out of it. A CDO could actually concentrate the information and give the right impulse". He also admits that achieving 100% compliance with innovative companies is almost impossible and therefore allows for flexibility through discussion: "What's most important is transparency, risk analyses, etc". Mr. Hagen agrees: "It's an open discussion in order to have a win-win situation, for the company and the regulator. Companies comes to Luxembourg because we listen to them". For Remy Els, the relation with the customer has to be based on trust and insurance companies therefore need to be careful with Big Data. Here again, he sees transparency as the key. "If we use their data, customers need to be aware of it. Digital is a cultural issue, and its success depends on the mindset of the company" concluded Remy Els.

 

Alexandre Keilmann

Crédits photos: Dominique Gaul