When Luxembourg set out to modernize its public warning system, the ambition was clear from the outset: build a truly end-to-end alerting solution, one that would empower each competent public authority to issue targeted alerts within its own domain and give every citizen meaningful control over the warnings they receive.
The national system relies on a robust multi-channel architecture combining Cell Broadcast, location-based SMS, web and digital channels. But Luxembourg chose to go one step further: a dedicated mobile application, purpose-built by Intersec, to give every citizen the ability to personalize the warnings they receive.
The solution
For government issuers: governance built into the platform
LU-Alert gives each public body its own dedicated workspace within a unified platform. User roles, authorized channels, alert categories and severity levels are configured independently for each issuer, ensuring both autonomy and national coherence.
Six public bodies are now active on the platform:
AGE – flood alerts
ALVA – food safety recalls, with image integration to visually identify affected products (e.g. specific infant formula batches), allergen information
CGDIS – fire alerts, rescue and civil protection
HCPN – interministerial crisis management
MeteoLux – weather alerts (rain, wind, floods, storms) via direct API from their MeteoFactory platform
Police – e.g. notification for criminals on the run, missing person alerts
For citizens: relevant alerts, not more alerts
The LU-Alert mobile app puts control in the hands of each user. Subscribers can filter notifications along three dimensions:
Alert category: weather, food safety, fires, public safety, etc.
Severity level: orange and red alerts only, for example, to avoid notification overload
Personal places of interest: home, children's school, workplace
It is even possible to combine the alert category and the severity. Subscribers can choose to receive alerts starting at the “orange” level for food alerts and starting at the “yellow” level for fire alerts, for example. This fine-grained targeting is the platform's answer to alert fatigue: rather than broadcasting to everyone, the LU-Alert app delivers to those for whom the alert is meaningful, increasing both reach and response.
Continuous improvement with a dedicated Intersec resource
A dedicated Intersec resource has been embedded in the Luxembourg team, working alongside public authorities to continuously improve the platform. Delivered and in-progress enhancements include:
Image integration in alerts, enabling issuers to visually identify affected products, critical for food safety recalls
An alert creation assistant and over 300 templates being migrated to enable faster and more consistent publishing
Subscriber-side filtering by category and severity level
Progressive alert scenarios, enabling authorities to update the severity level and impacted zone of an active alert in real time - from yellow wind to orange, red, and back to resolved - while retaining the full crisis history for post-event analysis
Further enhancements are being shaped by field feedback from operational teams.
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