2025 is a year shaped by AI: Starting off with the US AI initiative ‘Stargate’, continued by the EU Commission’s “AI Continent Action Plan”, and resulting in the question of Europe’s Digital Sovereignty.
eco has actively contributed to this debate through events such as the AllianceTalk “All in for AI Gigafactories?”, and a joint study with Arthur D. Little highlighting the scale of AI-driven industry growth. AI has defined this year and will continue to shape policy, markets, and society well into 2026.
Yet while governments negotiate frameworks and industries scale infrastructure, digital policy is also playing out in a far more intimate setting: the family living room. For many children, this holiday will mark their first step into the digital world. When the first smartphone appears under the Christmas tree, many parents ask themselves: Is my child old enough to use social media apps? And what can I do to protect my child from potential risks when using them?
Our recent survey shows that 82 per cent of Germans are in favour of age limits for social media, while at the same time more than half (54 per cent) consider that such a regulation is not feasible in practice. “The results show that parents want to play an active role in their children’s entry into social media,” says Alexandra Koch-Skiba, Head of the eco Complaints Office and gives five tips on how parents can effectively support their children when they start using social media. Read the article here.
As the year comes to an end, we would like to wish you a merry Christmas and a good start to the new year.
