Are European data centres ready for the climate targets of the EU Green Deal, to strengthen climate and environmental protection through digitalisation? A new study with best practices in the field of energy-efficient data centres formulates technological development potentials as well as policy recommendations.

eco – Association of the Internet Industry is part of the newly elected board of EuroISPA, the largest umbrella organisation of European Internet service providers. Thomas Bihlmayer, Policy Adviser at eco, will assume the role of treasurer for the association.

From 1 January 2021 onwards, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“the UK”) will no longer be party to the European Union legislation, rules and agreements (aka “Brexit”).  We asked Eva Kasprowicz, an IT and Privacy lawyer at Fieldfisher (Germany) LLP, about the potential impacts from an EU privacy perspective and how affected businesses should prepare for it.

Are data centres in Europe ready to meet the climate goals of the EU Green Deal? And what best practices can data centres already use today? The answers to these questions are provided in the new study "Data Centres in Europe - Opportunities for Sustainable Digitalisation", published by the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany in cooperation with the Borderstep Institute and with the support of the Vodafone Institute. In an eco netTALK on Tuesday, 24 November, we will present the key results of the study.  

An interview with Sven Ramuschkat, Managing Director, Co-Founder at tecRacer GmbH & Co. KG.

With the presentation of a joint draft, two German Ministries are seeking to fundamentally reform the Telecommunications Act (TKG) and to thereby transpose the European Code for Electronic Communications within this legislative term. eco is deeply critical of the fact that only a 14-day period has been granted for positions on the discussion draft - especially given that this draft features substantial gaps.

Politics, science and industry are currently meeting together at the GAIA-X Summit. The aim of the online summit: “We’re now laying the groundwork for all the services and functions that GAIA-X will offer going forward,” says Andreas Weiss from the eco Association. In his keynote, he's delving into what the industry can expect from the initiative.

Plans of the EU States to expand digital surveillance in the wake of the recent terrorist attack in Vienna trigger concerns for eco – Association of the Internet Industry.

Last week, the German EU Presidency presented a proposal on the ePrivacy Regulation, with a decision possibly to be made tomorrow by the Telecommunications Working Group. For eco, the proposal is a significant step backwards for digitalisation.

There is a lot of controversy and confusion when it comes to DNS over HTTPS (DoH). That is why eco produced a discussion paper which comprehensively reviews the policy and technical as well as the business implications of DoH.

An interview with Mario Apitz, Founder & CEO of Alice&Bob.Company GmbH, on why they decided to become a member of EuroCloud Native, and what the Cloud Native Initiative should achieve when it comes to the dialogue with competitors and suppliers.

Smartphone apps are a key component for reining in the Corona pandemic: they can warn us when we are at risk and thus contain the spread of the disease. How can we increase the level of acceptance of these apps so that more people use them? This is a question investigated by Christine Utz at the Ruhr-University Bochum in the NRW Research College SecHuman

Report from a first transatlantic dialogue on intermediary liability, jointly hosted by the eco Association and the U.S.-based i2Coalition, which brought together renowned Internet industry experts from both sides of the Atlantic.

America has voted.  On the topic of the 59th US presidential election, eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme says: “For many decades, the relationship between the USA and Germany has been characterised by intensive economic and social interaction. This transatlantic relationship must be reactivated and strengthened over the next four years."

Reducing technological dependencies and networking linear value-added chains in the digital single market more easily – GAIA-X creates the self-determined and sovereign data space for this. Andreas Weiss spoke to a committee of the German parliament about how exactly the initiative will do so.

eco – Association of the Internet Industry & ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers invite you to a joint ICANN69 Readout to summarize and discuss selected topics from the 22nd Virtual Annual General Meeting.

„Data Center Trends in Europe“ is a new series of webinars initiated by DDA and eco. We would like to discuss current issues for data center operators with industry experts on a regulary base.

On the Internet, generally, a third party is always involved. Discussions around the responsibility of that third party is a matter of determining liability in circumstances of real or perceived wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, 28 Oct. 2020, the German government's Digital Agenda Committee discussed data sovereignty in connection with the GAIA-X project. Andreas Weiss, eco Head of Digital Business Models, took part in the committee’s technical discussion.

On the occasion of the final report of the “Artificial Intelligence” Study Commission appointed in June 2018 – which was presented today to the Bundestag – Oliver Süme, Chair of the eco Association, urges legislators not to approach the future-oriented topic of AI with a mere focus on possible risks

The world’s leading Internet Exchange operator DE-CIX was honored at this year’s Global Carrier Awards in the category Best Internet Exchange & Best Internet Exchange Innovation 2020. DE-CIX has now earned this important industry award five times since its inception in 2015.

On November 26, 2020, the eco Association will once again present one of the most prestigious awards in the Internet industry. In six award categories, a jury of experts with representatives from business, science, research or politics selected the three most promising submissions in each case.

The draft law passed today obliges Internet providers and telecommunications companies to cooperate with the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and the authorities for the protection of the constitution: In future, companies will be obliged to route “suspicious” data packets to the authorities, who will then subsequently send them on to the actual recipient.

eco – Association of the Internet Industry welcomes the fact that the EU Commission Work Programme for 2021 includes numerous digital focal points and legislative projects to bring Europe through the current Corona crisis both economically and socially, and to make it more resilient.

As part of ICANN69, the eco Association invites you to take a virtual tour of the Smart City Hamburg on 20 October!

At a virtual conference of European digital ministers being held today, an agreement is to be reached on the merging of European cloud capacities. For the Association of the Internet Industry, GAIA-X is considered to be a flagship project in this realm, offering the potential to fully exploit the opportunities of the data economy while at the same time making a reality out of the Digital Single Market.

The eco Association has criticized the draft law presented yesterday by the German Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJV) for the transposition of the EU copyright reform. The draft has not been calibrated with the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), puts technical filters back in the spotlight, and still contains impracticable regulations for service providers.

Tobias, you are well known in the domain name industry, but for those unfamiliar with the industry: Can you tell us about your background? Tobias Sattler: My name is Tobias Sattler, and I am a member of the board at united-domains, where I head the technology and product management. I am also an active member of the...

Owing to constitutional concerns, German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has for the moment suspended the drafting of the law on combating right-wing extremism and hate crime. Going back a number of months, eco – Association of the Internet Industry had already expressed considerable constitutional and data protection concerns about the draft law.

The eco Association welcomes the fact that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has remained true to its previous stance on data retention and has delivered a ruling consistent with this. Data retention is only possible, if at all, in very limited exceptional cases.