The sounds of files, cutters and hammers once echoed around the Old Locksmith in Offenbach am Main. In early June 2024, however, the Data Centre Expert Summit 2024 was all about data centres as tools for our digital future – with the support of our sponsors ABB, EkkoSense AI, GOLDBECK, Robert C. Spies, Huawei and Global Switch.

Pioneering companies in Germany are developing and implementing innovative solutions based on artificial intelligence in close collaboration with technology groups. However, the use of artificial intelligence is still in its infancy among German companies, as highlighted by a representative survey of 543 corporate decision-makers conducted by YouGov2 on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry shows.

The European elections will take place on Sunday, 9 June 2024. Against this backdrop, eco – Association of the Internet Industry has analysed the election manifestos of the CDU/CSU, SPD, Alliance 90/The Greens, and FDP regarding the parties’ digital policy priorities and plans.

eco survey reveals: One-third of the surveyed IT decision-makers have not yet taken any measures to fulfil the increased security requirements of NIS2.

In the coming years, corporate sustainability reporting obligations will increasingly be extended to small and medium-sized data centres. Péter Müllner from GLOBAL SWITCH FM GMBH will explain what this already means for the data centre industry at the Data Center Expert Summit on 4 June in Offenbach am Main.

On the occasion of the upcoming EU elections on 9 June 2024, the eco Association has published the agenda for the Digital Policy for Europe 2024-2029. In a total of eight fields of action, the association formulates the industry’s key demands for European digital policy in the coming legislative term.

Only by working together can we shape a green digitalisation and future – that was the tenor of this year’s DIGISUSTAIN at KAP Europa. On 29 April, eco hosted the “Digital and Sustainable Transformation” stage and welcomed numerous players from business and politics who are driving forward sustainable digital transformation.

The “We give data a home! The data centre industry in Germany” Alliance Talk on Wednesday, 15 May 2024, at BASECAMP Berlin brought together representatives from the Internet industry, users and politicians to discuss both the importance of and the necessary framework conditions for data centres in Germany.

The German Federal Cabinet approved the draft bill to amend the German Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG) on 22 May 2024. The Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany is in favour of using the opportunity to implement measures for a more realistic implementation of the requirements and international comparability in addition to the formal adjustments to align the EnEfG with the reporting obligations of the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED).

IT services from the cloud are adopting increasingly sophisticated security mechanisms, says Jörn Stuphorn, Head of Security Management at IONOS. In this interview, he talks about secure cloud services for SMEs.

Germans pay attention to security features when choosing cloud storage: 27.2 per cent consider encrypted transmission and encrypted storage of data in the cloud to be important. Another important argument in favour of a provider is whether they offer a lot of free storage space.

Increasing trust in emails and preventing phishing and spam with the help of DMARC - Lars Sandbergen, DMARC Advisor B. V. describes how this can be achieved in the eco member interview. Lars, could you please give us a brief introduction to your company? By helping organisations implement DMARC via our platform, we...

The use of rescue drones, telemedicine, 5G and artificial intelligence: digital services and technology are optimising the rescue services. We spoke to Joachim Schade, ifak – Institut für Automation und Kommunikation e. V., about how rescue mobility will benefit from the use of 5G.

How does artificial intelligence (AI) improve energy efficiency in data centres and also support the upcoming ESG reporting? Matthew Farnell, Global Sales and Marketing Director at EkkoSense, will talk about this at the Data Center Expert Summit on 4 June. His German colleague Artur Faust, Sales Manager DACH, answers our questions in this interview.

Explore strategies for creating secure, collaborative digital environments that prioritize trust – the cornerstone of all human connections – in the May issue of dotmagazine.

Today, the EU Member States are set to finalise the AI Act. With this law, the European Union has become the first international entity to create a comprehensive set of rules for the regulation of AI. Its key to success entails harmonised interpretation and implementation.

The fundamental rights enshrined in the German Basic Law also apply in virtual space – in spite of the fact that the Internet did not yet exist when the Basic Law was proclaimed in 1949. However, many people feel that their civil rights are jeopardised in the virtual space. eco Association calls for a comprehensive repeal of data retention and highlights that there must be no restrictions on the encryption of electronic communication or stored data in the future.

AI is THE technology trend of 2024 – that’s the consensus among IT decision-makers in Germany. Earlier this year, a representative survey commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry revealed that almost three-quarters of respondents (73.6 per cent) see AI as the most important driver of digital innovation. It is clear that AI, quantum computing and other digital technological innovations will fundamentally change our world in all areas over the next decade.

Waste heat utilisation, greater energy efficiency, CO2 reduction: the data centre industry is currently addressing these approaches from various angles. As part of the event “Current and Future Energy Storage Technologies for the Data Centre Industry” at the University of Bayreuth campus, over 60 experts discussed these topics via various presentations and workshops.

eco Association presents a digital policy opinion poll on the European elections: For around a quarter of voters, digital policy is relevant to their voting decision.

Establishing data centres on well-connected industrial sites promotes modern, sustainable and socially acceptable neighbourhood developments, says Daniel Schmitz from GOLDBECK Südwest GmbH in an interview.

Meet topDNS, the initiative of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry aimed at combatting online abuse, at the Nordic Domain Days. On 13 and 14 May, registries, registrars, resellers, service providers and investors from the domain industry will gather again in Stockholm.

Joining forces for Domain Trust and the protection of the Domain Name System (DNS): eco – Association of the Internet Industry and the Global Cyber Alliance inaugurate wide-ranging cooperation.

In this webinar eco – Association of the Internet Industry & ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers introduced requestors of WHOIS data to the recently launched Registration Data Request Service (RDRS) and answered any questions about the service. The RDRS handles requests for access to non-public...

52% of Germans believe AI can improve working conditions. One in four (23.7%) see no benefits for working conditions as a result of AI.

In times of phishing attacks and spam, protecting email communication is more important than ever. DMARC reports are sent to domain owners as a detailed feedback mechanism that provides valuable information on how emails are handled by the various email providers. In our legal opinion on the compatibility of DMARC with the GDPR, we provide practical tips for the legally compliant implementation of DMARC.

In a joint declaration, the European police commissioners have issued a joint statement against end-to-end encryption. This is wrong and not in the interests of European citizens, states Oliver Dehning, Leader of the eco Security Competence Group at eco Association.

The Digital Services Act adopted by the German federal cabinet on 20 December 2023 is intended to transpose the European DSA into German law and ensure trustworthy digital services in Germany. Today, the law was passed by the German Federal Council.

Satellites naturally count as critical infrastructure – however, only a small part of their ground stations are regulated by law as “critical infrastructures” (known as "KRITIS "in Germany). The eco met the DLR event in April, which shed light on the future legal implications of the NIS2 and the German KRITIS Umbrella Act and provided concrete examples of how to best prepare for attacks.

The agreement reached by the German traffic light coalition on the so-called "Quick Freeze" procedure for Internet investigations is met with a counter-proposal in the German Federal Council.