3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
economic development and model of society.
As the cosmopolitan crossroad in the heart of Europe and a driving force for the Greater
Region, Luxembourg experiences cross-border cooperation on a daily basis. Luxembourg, where
economic actors can benefit from an enormous concentration of international expertise,
displays open-mindedness to new and innovative ideas.
Given these characteristics, the archetype of “the ally” best reflects the country’s identity: that
is, working together to generate common growth by virtue of solid partnerships and a
commitment to the common good. The ally achieves his objectives thanks to his particular ease
in creating cooperation, alliances and communities. Luxembourg’s qualities, described above,
perfectly match the digitalized Sharing Economy on the Collaborative Commons where social
capital, lateral power and collaboration are decisive. Brought on by the Third Industrial
Revolution, amplified by the emerging Internet of Things platform and triggered by zero
marginal cost, the Sharing Economy is expected to grow and become a complementary
economic model.
Besides the emergence of the Sharing Economy, the economic transformation spawned by TIR
goes along with socio-cultural mutations. One essential requirement for societal change is
literacy in the broadest sense. People need to understand the impacts of their actions. Raising
awareness and, in particular, biosphere consciousness is necessary to make sure that future
development targets economic, societal and environmental resilience. Development is rarely
straight forward but, rather, characterized by disruptions and evolution by leaps and bounds.
The participants of the working group pointed to different roles and missions of the state and
public authorities. First of all, the group made a distinction between specific missions in the
context of the TIR, notably to enable and facilitate economic and social development, and the
more general missions of guaranteeing social protection and cohesion, environmental
conservation and a stable quality of life.
One key mission of the State relative to the Third Industrial Revolution is to provide the
necessary infrastructure to allow economic activity to flourish. The requirements include
material infrastructure such as roads, high-performance telecommunication equipment,
adapted energy transportation and distribution grids etc., as well as an immaterial framework
which includes legislation, regulation and policies. Luxembourg set the course for the transition
into the TIR with the government’s economic diversification policy, where ICT and logistics
upgrades of the energy infrastructure were earmarked as critical priorities.
Public health is another sector where Luxembourg has leaped foreward by digitalizing its health
records. The recently created national agency on shared information in the domain of health
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