Luxembourg is planning to publish two multiplatform chat services during this year, aiming to provide security to communication by storing encrypted messages inside the nation. Luxchat is meant for residents, cross-border commuters, and businesses, whereas Luxchat4Gov will be available only for government officials.
According to the Luxembourg government, the Luxchat services are a result of the country's Ministry of Digitalisation bundle of projects that drive data security and digital sovereignty of the nation. Ranking third in delivery of eGovernment among European countries, Luxembourg has a long history with the usage of open source. OSS officially came into the government's programme in 2018.
The Luxchat services provide end-to-end encryption and retain all messages in decentralised servers located in Luxembourg. Luxchat and Luxchat4Gov will offer the same features, but the infrastructures are kept separate, as the government version is intended for professional use in the public sector.
The applications work on Android, iOS and browsers. Both services are offered for free. Luxchat4Gov is rolled out in the second quartal, and the public version during early fall.
Under the hood, Luxchat is using Matrix open standard and protocol for real-time communication. The Matrix specification is built for interoperable, decentralised, and secure message exchange. Luxembourg follows the German armed forces and healthcare, French Government, and multiple Swedish public sector actors in implementing a Matrix-based system.
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