The importance of IT security has never been higher, says SySS founder and Managing Director Sebastian Schreiber. In an eco member interview, he talks about how companies can protect themselves from dangerous ransomware attacks.

When selecting cloud services for corporate IT, experts are particularly concerned about the trusted handling of data. This is shown by a Civey survey of 250 IT experts commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry. According to the survey, the most important criterion when selecting cloud services in corporate IT is an encryption offer from the cloud provider (41.5 per cent). What are also seen to be very important are quality and security certificates (36.6 per cent) and the compatibility of the service with the GDPR.

The ICANN76 Community Forum was recently hosted in the coast resort of Cancún, Mexico, and took place from 11 to 16 March 2023. Which topics were under discussion and what insights emerged? This was covered at the subsequent virtual ICANN76 Readout on 28 March, hosted by eco – Association of the Internet Industry and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

The eco Competence Group Networks is offering an exchange on laser safety on 5 May from 11.00-12.30, where laser expert, Dr Eric ten Have, Development Associate at Corning Optical Communications, will share his expertise.

Decision-makers from politics and the Internet industry met at this year's Internet Policy Forum on 25 April in the Microsoft Atrium Berlin to discuss the lever projects, fields of action and flagships of the Digital Strategy.

The career opportunities in the tech industry are diverse and we can finally say goodbye to the “clichéd nerd” image. Nonetheless, women are still underrepresented in IT. How do we inspire young talents for the diverse career opportunities in tech? On the occasion of Girls’ Day, we spoke to Kiki Radicke, Head of People & Culture at Adacor, about working and career opportunities in the tech industry, and how IT companies can succeed in inspiring more girls and women to enter tech.

The digitalisation of the workplace – for example through mobile working options – can contribute to improving the work-life balance. This is the view of around two out of three Germans (61.2 per cent), according to a representative Civey survey commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry on the occasion of Labour Day on 1 May.

On 8 and 9 May, registries, registrars, resellers as well as service providers and investors from the domains industry will again meet in Stockholm for the Nordic Domain Days 2023. The eco initiative topDNS is once again a partner of the conference and will be involved in the programme on the second day with the focus topic “Policy & Tech”:

From 17 to 21 April 2023, around 130,000 visitors in Hannover could see first-hand just how well Gaia-X has taken off. During the trade fair, a large number of interested visitors came to the joint “Industry 4.0 platform” stand to learn how the Gaia-X Federation Services (GXFS) and many other Gaia-X projects work in practice.

The Names & Numbers Forum of the eco Association brings together more than 140 companies from the global domain industry. The Steering Committee of the eco Competence Group is now pleased to welcome three new members.

InterNetX and Sedo.com present the Global Domain Report 2023, their annual assessment of the state of the domain industry. The domain industry is constantly evolving, keeping up with trends in our society and changing market conditions. The report shows how the business of domain registrations and aftermarket sales remains...

To take stock of the German federal government’s digital policy, the Network Policy Forum will take place on 25 April with German Digital Minister Volker Wissing. In advance, eco Chair Süme formulates three core requirements for the implementation of the Digital Strategy.

According to a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, 23.9 per cent of respondents say that the teaching of digital skills in schools has actually deteriorated over the last three years.

The Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany voices criticism on the draft for a new Energy Efficiency Act adopted yesterday by the German Federal Cabinet. While this act sets out the right objectives, the obligations it imposes on data centres to release their waste heat cannot be implemented in such a format and could lead to data centres relocating to neighbouring European countries.

Data-based disease detection and treatment – Europe is on the way to a Health Union. How Gaia-X lets us live longer independently. And why artificial intelligence, vitamin D and calcium are enough to save billions in treatment costs.

According to eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme: “The German federal government Data Strategy must clarify open questions related to the use of data in an economic context.”

eco Survey: 83.7 per cent of IT experts believe that the German industry is in a worse position than its international competitors. 55 per cent complain about bureaucratic hurdles in digitalisation projects in German industry.

The Mobility Competence Group will meet on 26 April in Wolfsburg (a German-language event). In the run-up to the event, we spoke to Kai Meinke, Co-Founder and Business Lead at deltaDAO, about the importance and establishment of sovereign identity management and Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) for the mobility of the future, current developments and use cases in the Gaia-X 4 Future Mobility moveID project, as well as his keynote speech on the topic of “Move ID – Opportunities for a more transparent, secure and decentralised data management”.  

The current cybersecurity situation in Germany remains tense, according to the prevailing opinion of IT experts. 93 per cent rate the general threat situation as high or very high, while only about 7 per cent of those participating in the current IT Security Survey by eco – Association of the Internet Industry assume that the threat situation will remain unchanged.

How is it possible for special characters or characters of other languages to be universally accepted on the Internet? The Universal Acceptance Technical Training Day, which is organised by eco Association and the geoTLD Group, provides assistance, explains Ronald Schwärzler in an interview.

Dr. Béla Waldhauser, spokesperson for the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany, founded under the umbrella of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, comments on the new draft act for a German energy efficiency law that was released this Monday, 3 April 2023.

In order to increase the security of software supply chains, a wave of regulation will roll in on the German economy. In an interview, Attorney-at-law Stefan Hessel, Head of Digital Business at Reusch Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, talks about the legal implications for SMEs.

In an eco member interview, Marc Fröse, Director Sales & Marketing at NorthC Deutschland GmbH, talks about the opportunities for sustainable resource management in data centres and the challenges facing the European digital economy in global competition.

Book accommodation and flights on the Internet or let your mobile phone guide you to your holiday destination: Almost two out of three Germans (61.9 per cent) currently use online services that make it easier for them to prepare for their holidays and while on location.

The CSA (Certified Senders Alliance) has published the 7th edition of its “Directive for Permissible Email Marketing”. Now online, it offers up-to-date knowledge and practical tips on implementing legal rules for sending commercial emails – in Germany and internationally.

In an interview, Joelle Samake, Country Coordinator Germany of Nameshield GmbH states that brand protection and IT security are growing together, and advocates for ethical digitalisation.

Today, the Complaints Office of eco published its English version of its 2022 Annual Report. With 8,904 actionable cases, the eco Complaints Office once again recorded a new peak of notified legal violations on the Internet last year

Gaia-X is taking shape. Andreas Weiss, GXFS Project Manager and Head of Digital Business Models division at eco – Association of the Internet Industry, talks in an interview on the further development of Gaia-X in line with the needs and problems of users.

What role do “ecosystem technologies” and digital identities play in authorisation and proof-of-origin chains? Carsten Stöcker from Spherity GmbH talks about this in an eco member interview.