Clarence is up and running, as of Monday. On Friday, the ICT providers Proximus and Luxconnect, who form the joint venture that offers a disconnected sovereign cloud based on Google technologies, made the final adjustments. Because it is air-gapped, Google does not have access to the inside of the infrastructure and cannot directly implement updates, and this is what differentiates Clarence from the other sovereign cloud offerings that are emerging.
"For us," Luxconnect CEO explained in an interview, "the greatest element of sovereignty is that you stay in a place with which you are legally bound and that you do not leave the European Union. We're not the only ones, but we're the only ones whose solution is totally disconnected."
"What makes the difference," Konsbruck said. "It's what's on offer. We know that we have access to all the Google services, 80% to 90% of the Google Cloud are also in our offering, a huge bouquet of services. They have 50,000 people working on it." In other words, will the other so-called sovereign offerings have as many tools at their disposal?
And in the case of Clarence's first client, data control is just as important as the tools that the Luxembourg Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) will be able to take advantage of. "They were already using Luxembourg data centres. They have their own tools. What this changes for them is that they can upload data, whether it is confidential or subject to Luxembourg regulations, without having to leave their own environment. For them, there is no alternative."
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"Access to Google's platform, as well as to tools associated with artificial intelligence, will enable the CSSF, both internally and externally, to exploit the increase in critical analyses to be carried out at prudential supervision level, as well as to develop the CSSF's administrative practice and its interactions with market players, respectively with international groups present in Luxembourg", said the director in charge of operations at the CSSF, .
The financial regulator's director general, , pointed out that "this partnership with Clarence is an important step in the digitalisation of the CSSF, enabling it to improve the processing of a growing mass of data, refine its risk analyses and generally increase the efficiency of its work. In the future, artificial intelligence will not only be a key element for the financial sector supervised by the CSSF, but also for the CSSF itself".
An internal CSSF working group has identified an initial list of pilot projects to be deployed from the first quarter of 2025, with the aim of integrating artificial intelligence into these critical processes in order to increase the performance, transparency and efficiency of its work and improve interaction with the public and supervised entities.
First strategic customer
"We are convinced that this example will set a new standard for the entire financial sector," stated Konsbruck, while Proximus CEO stated that "a new chapter is opening up in the book of sovereignty for innovative platforms in Luxembourg, especially with a prestigious first client like the CSSF. This strategic investment, which radiates out from Luxembourg, illustrates the Proximus group's commitment to strengthening its role as a leader in sovereign technology solutions."
"We are honoured to contribute to this evolution of the CSSF as a pioneer in AI and Gen AI, and by extrapolation to this positive advancement of the Luxembourg financial sector," said Clarence general manager . "Our collaboration with the CSSF is not limited to a technology project, it is a shared vision of the future of the financial sector, where digital trust, the fully sovereign cloud and artificial intelligence converge to create a coherent and secure whole, in the geopolitical context we know today."
Announced last week, a new offering brings together two other partners. “Post and OVH are totally complementary to Clarence,” Konsbruck stated. “We are in the high end for companies that need security and sovereignty with a wide range of services, particularly in artificial intelligence. We have a high-performance solution that comes at a price.” A second customer is expected to sign up before the end of the year.
Read the original French-language version of this news report /