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.

The reuschlaw team deals in particular with questions of liability law relating to digital and physical products in Europe, reports Philipp Resch in an interview.

36.6 per cent of Germans back up their most important private data less often than once a year or never. This is according to a survey conducted on World Backup Day on 31 March, the international day of data backup.

Whether with MS-DOS, the Apple Newton or Gaia-X – for 40 years, C&S Computer and Software has been digitising the healthcare industry. In an interview, Managing Director Bruno Ristok now presents his work in the TEAM-X project. Which role the focus on the common good plays in data flows in outpatient care. And how Gaia-X provides solutions for the banality of everyday life. Read more on gxfs.eu.

An expert group of the international Internet administration ICANN ensures smooth time changeover of digital devices and applications. eco’s Managing Director Alexander Rabe sees this as a proofpoint for the functioning multi-stakeholder approach in Internet governance.

When Hannover Messe, the world’s leading industrial trade fair, opens its doors from 17-21 April 2023, the eco Association and Gaia-X Federation Services will be on site.

Digitalisation offers numerous opportunities to improve our quality of life. Sandro Malessa talks about how LWL-Sachsenkabel is committed to sustainability and energy efficiency in an interview with the eco Association.

Artificial intelligence has taken another leap forward with the ChatGPT language model from the Californian company Open AI, which was launched in November 2022. A eco/Civey survey shows that 58.7 percent of German students use chatbots like ChatGPT. Among the German population, however, chatbots still play a rather small role.

The “move to the cloud” makes for more resilient IT infrastructures. Cloud expert Patrick Schulz from Cockroach Labs talks about how digital transformation is changing the IT landscape in an interview.

In the current budget negotiations of the German federal government, the planned digital budget could also fall victim to cuts. eco Association expressly warns against cutting funds for the implementation of digitalisation plans and projects.

Meet the eco Association and the GXFS-DE project team at Cloud Expo Europe in Frankfurt on 10-11 May 2023 and experience Gaia-X live at the “Gaia-X Stage powered by eco”.

The European Council and the European Parliament are expected to start their trilogue on the Data Act on 28 March. Already on Monday this week, in Strasbourg the Parliament voted on the draft prepared by rapporteur Pilar del Castillo Vera (EPP) from the Industry Committee (ITRE) and issued its negotiating mandate. eco still sees a need for improvement in the Data Act.