FEDIL Industry Days 2021

Xavier Bettel | Michèle Detaille | Angela Lo Mauro

Following his secondary school studies, Xavier Bettel pursued a higher education at the University of Nancy, where he was awarded a master’s degree in public and European law from the Faculty of Law, followed by a DEA (post-graduate diploma of advanced studies) in political sciences and public law. 

Following the legislative elections of 20 October 2013, Xavier Bettel was appointed Prime Minister, Minister of State, Minister for Communications and Media and Minister for Religious Affairs on 4 December 2013 in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng). Following the resignation of Maggy Nagel from the government, Xavier Bettel was appointed Minister of Culture on 18 December 2015.

After the legislative elections of 14 October 2018, Xavier Bettel was appointed Prime Minister, Minister of State, Minister for Communications and Media, Minister for Religious Affairs, Minister for Digitalisation and Minister for Administrative Reform on 5 December 2018 in the coalition government formed by the DP, the LSAP and déi gréng.

With a degree in international relations from the ULC, Michèle Detaille entered politics in the early 1980s, becoming an advisor to Minister of State Jean Gol and then Mayor of Vaux-sur-Sûre.

In 1988, Michèle Detaille turned to the corporate world, taking on the commercial management of Accor Services Benelux. In 1996, she took over the No-Nail Boxes company, which she still manages today, and then developed the Alipa group, a set of SMEs active in the field of packaging, industrial logistics and handling.

Michèle Detaille is a director of Luxempart and Contern S.A. Member of the Board of Directors of FEDIL since 2005.In April 2019, she became the first woman, non-Luxembourgish, elected to the presidency of FEDIL.

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Inès Baer | Nicolas Schmit | Valérie Massin | Marina Andrieu | Dr. Loveneesh Rana | Philippe Heck

Inès Baer joined ADEM in April 2020 to initiate and manage the Future Skills Initiative – a strategic programme which includes different projects around identifying skills gaps, anticipating skills needs, upskilling and reskilling job seekers, and supporting employers in proactively upskilling and reskilling employees.

Before joining ADEM, she worked as a management consultant at KPMG, advising public and private sector clients in matters of strategy, innovation and new technologies.

Inès is also doing a doctorate at Grenoble Ecole de Management, where she conducts research on the impact of artificial intelligence on the nature of human work and the competencies needed in the workplace. Apart from Luxembourg, she has studied/worked in Germany, France, the United States and Singapore and has gained a Bachelor in industrial engineering and a Master in management.

Nicolas Schmit is a politician from Luxembourg serving as European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights since 2019. A member of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers‘ Party (LSAP), he was previously a member of the government of Luxembourg from 2004 to 2019 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 2019.

In 1979, Nicolas Schmit started his political and diplomatic career as an attaché in the Prime Minister’s office in Luxembourg, followed by the Foreign Ministry. In 1989, he became Secretary to the LSAP’s delegation in the Chamber of Deputies. He was appointed to the Council of State on 29 October 1991.

In 2004, Nicolas Schmit was appointed to the first Juncker-Asselborn Ministry as Minister-Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Immigration. After the 2009 election, he was promoted to the office of Minister of Labour, Employment and Immigration of Luxembourg. From 2013 to 2018, Nicolas Schmit was Minister of Labour, Employment and Social and Solidarity Economy.

Valerie Massin is Vice President of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce and President of the Training Commission as well as member of FEDIL’s board of directors.

She graduated in Private Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and in European Law from the College of Europe – Bruges.

In 2000, Valérie Massin entered ArcelorMittal Luxembourg S.A as an in-house legal counsel and HR manager within a commercial entity in charge of major exports (TradeARBED). From 2014 to 2019, Valérie Massin was Country Manager – Responsible for government and institutional affairs in addition to her function as HR Coordinator Luxembourg that she holds since 20211.

Since January 2020, Valérie Massin is Head of Human Resources ArcelorMittal Europe Long Products. 

Marina is also the founder and director of WIDE, an organization whose mission is to encourage women and girls to choose digital professions. She was EU Code week Ambassador for Luxembourg from 2013 to 2017 and is also currently collaborating on inclusive entrepreneurship issues with the OECD.

Expert on gender and digital skills issues, she has led numerous projects in Luxembourg and in Europe with Erasmus + in particular.Marina graduated in economics, human resources and change management at CNAM and the University of Grenoble in France.

Loveneesh Rana received his PhD degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), in 2017.

Loveneesh has over 7 years of experience in the advanced research facility, the Aerospace Vehicle Design (AVD) Lab at the UTA where he worked on developing state-of-the-art design synthesis solutions.

His main area of expertise lies in the development of systems-level synthesis solutions for the ideation of future generation of space systems. Loveneesh joined the Remote Sensing Applications group, RSA, headed by Prof. Tonie Van Dam.

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Franz Fayot |  Sasha Baillie | Georges Rassel | Lucilla Sioli | Andreas Braun | Olivier Pons | Dr. Gaston Trauffler

Following secondary school studies at the Athénée de Luxembourg, Franz Fayot pursued a higher education in Luxembourg and Paris, followed by a DEA (post-graduate diploma of advanced studies) in corporate law from the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in 1996.

Following the cabinet reshuffle on 4 February 2020, Franz Fayot joined the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers‚ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng). He was appointed Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs and Minister of the Economy.

A member of the LSAP since 1994, Franz Fayot became chairman of the LSAP in 2019.

Since May 2018, Sasha Baillie is the CEO of Luxinnovation, the Luxembourg national innovation agency. She is also a member of the Coordination Committee of the Ministry of the Economy, which she joined in 2014 as Deputy Chief of Staff and Diplomatic Advisor of the Deputy Prime Minister, following her 20-year career as a Luxembourg diplomat.

Within the Ministry of the Economy, Sasha Baillie ran the initiative to reform Luxembourg’s economic promotion that led to the creation in June 2016 of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Board. She also chaired the Luxembourg Nation Branding Committee until 2019 and steered the work that led to the creation in 2015 of LuxGovSat (a joint-venture between the Luxembourg Government and SES) where she served as Chair of the Board.

Georges Rassel is CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Paul Wurth group and Head of the Metallurgical Plants and Environmental Technology Divison of SMS group, Paul Wurth’s major shareholder.

Georges has graduated in Civil Engineering at École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne and has a degree from London Business School.

He joined Paul Wurth S.A. in 1988, where he was first in charge of bridge and structural engineering. As of 1995, he managed various Ironmaking engineering projects and became Head of the Metallurgy department. In 2011, Georges was appointed Chief Operations Officer before he took over the lead of the group as CEO in 2015.

Besides his professional responsibilities, Georges is member of the board of directors of FEDIL, the voice of Luxembourg’s industry.

Mrs Lucilla Sioli Lucilla holds a PhD in economics from the University of Southampton (UK) and one from the Catholic University of Milan (Italy). She integrated the European Commission in 1997 and has worked as a civil servant for the EU ever since.

Today, Mrs Sioli is Director for „Artificial Intelligence and Digital Industry“ within Directorate-General CONNECT where she is responsible for the coordination of the digitisation of European industry, for policy development in the area of AI and for strengthening Europe’s competitiveness through digital innovations and key enabling technologies e.g. around robotics, microelectronics and photonics.

Mrs Sioli was previously responsible for the development of the Digital Economy and Society Index as well as for digital skills policy, through the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition.

Andreas gives a special focus to the creation of technologies that have the human factor at the forefront and to the usage of biometrics in Machine Learning and AI methods.

Leading a team of Data Scientists & AI Specialists in Technology Advisory, Andreas is also a Senior Manager and Senior Expert on Biometrics & AI, managing the PwC Luxembourg AI Lab. Together with his team, Andreas supports clients in understanding the opportunities and business cases of these technologies, but also adequately considering the associated risks. The objective being to help their clients in leveraging the most innovative technologies, defining new digital business models, strategies, designing and delivering innovative solutions.

Previously, Andreas was actively involved in applied research on smart homes, smart cities, IoT, and biometrics, particularly on how to leverage AI methods, making sure the technology is applied in a secure and private fashion, while improving the user experience.

As Engineer in computer science, Olivier started his career as a software designer and developer for space ground products.

Afterwards he became manager of several ground telecom product lines at the service of satellite operators.

He is currently the Leader of the Digital Studio Team that aims at leading the digital R&D of Thales Alenia Space France.

He is also the Artificial workstream Leader for Thales Alenia Space Joint Venture with the objective to lead, define and harmonize the company Artificial Intelligence strategy.

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Pascal Steichen | Cédric Mauny | Christophe Bianco | Edith Magyarics | Paul Feider | Philippe Bonte | Astrid Wagner | Frank Lieser | Céline Tarraube | René Winkin

Pascal Steichen holds a master degree in “astrophysics” and, in parallel of having his first work experience as a software engineer, he graduated in “applied information technology”. In 2002 he joined the Luxembourg government, first at the “Task Force eLuxembourg” and afterwards at the Ministry of the Economy as advisor and project manager in the area of network and information security. From 2003 to 2014 he was a member of the management board of ENISA (the European Network and Information Security Agency).

Today, Pascal is CEO of SECURITYMADEIN.LU, the structure behind the main information security initiatives of the Luxembourg government: CASES, CIRCL, BEE SECURE and the Cybersecurity Competence Center (C3), launched in 2017 as a european-wide unique facility to empower the Luxembourg economy in the field of cybersecurity. He is a member of the Luxembourg Cybersecurity Board,  lecturer in information security at the University of Luxembourg, president of the CLUSIL (an association representing the information security landscape of Luxembourg) and member of the FIC advisory board.​

With more than 15 years of experience, Cédric got specialized in management and governance of the information security, standardization, awareness and training, incident response, but also in technical fields such as security audits or security event management. He is certified CISM, CISSP, CRISC, ITILv3, ISO 27001 Implementer, ISO 27032 Cybersecurity Manager and ISO 31000 Risk Manager.

Over the past years, he successfully co-led the ISO 27001 certification program of Telindus’ Managed, Outsourcing, Cloud and CyberSecurity services.

Cédric is also very active within the Luxembourg’s cybersecurity ecosystem as founding member and board member of several professional associations in the field. Cédric is also lecturer, speaker and moderator at various security conferences.

Christophe Bianco is the co-founder and the Managing Director of Excellium Services. Founded in Luxembourg in 2012, Excellium is currently active in 7 countries, in 2 continents with approximately 140 employees delivering services to nearly 180 customers.

Before Excellium, Christophe was the EMEA vice-president and General Manager for Qualys, the leader in computer vulnerability management solutions. In this job, his mission was to support the company establishment in Europe in the perspective of the company IPO that happened in 2012.

Christophe got an engineering degree in network engineering and information systems. Furthermore, he had an Executive MBA from HEC Paris in 2008. Most recently, he has studied Criminology at the University of Paris Assas II and Economic intelligence at the Ecole de Guerre Economique in Paris.

He regularly speaks at conferences about Information Security issues, analysis of the economics of cybercrime or evolving threats. Since 2018, he’s also been Associate Professor at Telecom Nancy, an engineering school in France on cybersecurity topics.

After 8 years at BNY Mellon Brussels, 9 years at JPMorgan Asset Management Luxembourg, Edith Magyarics joined NNIP in January 2010 as COO, Management Company & Funds Board Member.

In May 2012, Victor Buck Services appointed Edith as CEO to accelerate the firm’s international and transversal growth. She focused on ensuring optimal operational set up, cost efficiency, and client centric solutions with a focus on control and governance. Since then, Victor Buck Services has expanded internationally and supports clients from Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, Sydney, with a special attention to their digital transformation and security challenges.

Edith also serves on various boards such as Seqvoia and I-HUB and advisory boards with specific focus on data protection, cyber security, digital transformation and more. She believes in building a local ecosystem and exporting the expertise available in Luxembourg while sharing experiences to help customers in their transformation journey.

Born in 1962 and of Luxembourgish nationality, Paul Feider studied applied economics with option in finance at the Louvain School of Management (previously IAG) in Belgium.

Highly interested in marketing as well, he began his career in the marketing department of the International Bank of Luxembourg (BIL). In 1989 he joined the Félix Giorgetti group in order to assist the family in setting up its business development.

Since then, Paul Feider is occupying his function as Administrative, Sales and Financial Director of the group. In this function, Paul is also member of the Management Board and delegated Administrator of numerous subsidiaries in the construction, real estate, financial and reinsurance sectors.

Born in 1962 and of Belgian nationality, Philippe Bonte studied Mathematics, Management and Actuarial Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Philippe Bonte began his career as an Assistant at the Faculty of Economics, Political and Social Sciences at the same University and joined the insurance sector in 1987 with AG in Brussels. In 1992, he moved to Luxembourg and held positions in two cross-border life insurance companies.

In 2002, Philippe Bonte joined the Foyer Group as Local Life Insurance Director and member of the Group Executive Committee. In 2011, he became Chief Actuary and in 2013, Chief Financial Officer.

Philippe Bonte is a Certified Director of Foyer Assurances S.A., Foyer Vie S.A. and Raiffeisen Vie S.A. and director of the following companies: Foyer Assurances S.A., Foyer Vie S.A., Raiffeisen Vie S.A., WEALINS S.A. and CapitalatWork S.A. He is also a founding member and honorary member of the Luxembourg Association of Actuaries (ILAC).

Astrid Wagner is a Partner in the IP, Communication & Technology practice area of Arendt & Medernach. She is in charge of specialised areas of the law such as data protection and privacy questions, e-commerce and distance contracts, consumer protection, IT and outsourcing issues, the full spectrum of IP rights, media and telecommunications, advertising, unfair competition and product regulation. Astrid also handles corporate law matters, advising operational companies on their establishment in Luxembourg and multinational companies on the structuring and financing of domestic and cross-border transactions and corporate reorganisations.

Astrid has been a member of the Luxembourg Bar since 2005, is a member of the International Trademark Association (INTA), of the German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (GRUR) and of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI).

Before joining Arendt & Medernach in 2007, she worked for two years as a lawyer in Luxembourg where her practice focused on commercial and corporate litigation. She holds a Master’s degree in law as well as a DESS degree in comparative law from the Université de Droit, d’Economie et des Sciences d’Aix-Marseille III (France).

Frank started his professional career in 1992 at Post Luxembourg, where he managed Enterprise IT architecture, security and operations.

Strong of more than 20 years of experience in IT management, Frank joined in 2016 the « Agence nationale de la sécurité des systèmes d’information » (ANSSI) to focus on information security. He notably engaged on drafting of national information security policies for classified and unclassified information systems and on pre-transposition follow-up of the Directive on security of network and information systems (NIS Directive).

Since mid-2020, Frank is in charge of the cybersecurity domain at the High Commission for National Protection.