According to a university press release issued on 7 March:

“The incubator will support aspiring entrepreneurs from the university in developing the skills and competences that are related to entrepreneurship and eventually help them to create their business ideas and set up their own company in Luxembourg.”

Romain Martin, the university’s vice rector for academic affairs, stated:

“The main purpose of the incubator is to support startups in their very first steps while they develop and refine their ideas. Once they mature and are ready to enter the market, we pass them on to one of the established incubators, such as Technoport.”

Sivakumar Bactavatchalou, the university incubator’s programme manager, added in the announcement that it aimed to develop skills first and the launch of actual startups “would be a happy side-effect”. He stated that graduates needed to develop: “transversal competencies at every stage of their professional life--even as employees.”

The university said the incubator, located on its Belval campus, would provide:

“space for workshops, infrastructure for prospective startups and individual consulting services for everything from idea evaluation to full business plans.”

Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco (standing at lectern), speaks during the inauguration of the University of Luxembourg’s new startup incubator, in Esch-Belval, 7 March 2018. Photo credit: @ChuckRobbins

Also on 7 March, the university and Cisco introduced the Cisco Networking Academy, which will begin operations in September 2018. The university’s press release said:

“Students from all fields will have the opportunity to take e-learning courses on topics such as networking and security, entrepreneurship, data analytics, but also in emerging fields, such as internet of things. Furthermore, the academy offers personalised assessments for participants and hands-on opportunities such as labs, networking simulation software, competitions and hackathons.”

Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco (left), and Xavier Bettel, the prime minister (second from left), tour the University of Luxembourg’s new startup incubator, 7 March 2018. Photo credit: @ChuckRobbins

Stéphane Pallage, rector of the University of Luxembourg, said in the announcement:

“Partnering with Cisco opens a world of opportunities for our university. Education is one of the cornerstones of the country’s Digital Acceleration Programme and we are proud to play an active part in it.”

Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco, which provides IT networking equipment, stated:

“Luxembourg’s workforce is central to accelerating the country’s vision to be a digital leader. As rapid technological advancements open up new opportunities and create new markets, a whole range of new roles will emerge across industries. Helping people develop the skills they need to benefit from the digital economy is the defining challenge of our time.”

Earlier this year, Luxembourg’s government and Cisco signed a memorandum of understanding to develop digital skills in the grand duchy as part of the state’s Digital Lëtzebuerg initiative.