The Digital Ministers of the G7 countries are meeting in Dusseldorf today, Tuesday and Wednesday. Due to the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, the meeting’s main topics include the protection of international digital infrastructure as well as the strengthening of cybersecurity and digital sovereignty. In addition, cross-border data exchange and sustainable digitalisation are in the focus of the discussions.
In a guidelines paper for the German G7 Presidency, the eco Association has defined how these topics can be strengthened in a sustainable manner from the perspective of the Internet industry: In the paper, eco presents recommended actions for an open, sustainable and resilient digital economy and society.
Strengthening digital sovereignty and cybersecurity
Against the backdrop of the current circumstances, eco is concerned about emerging and escalating trends and pursuits that could lead to a segmentation and fragmentation of the Internet. Fragmentation of the Internet could endanger its technical and organisational functioning. The international community must therefore work to ensure that the free, open, technology-neutral and decentralised structure of the Internet is maintained and further advanced. To this end, national go-it-alone approaches in the area of global digital governance must be avoided. From eco’s perspective, this requires reducing dependencies and strategic weaknesses without pursuing a protectionist and isolated approach.
Current developments make it clear that global conflicts also pose a threat to IT security and that cyber attacks are on the rise. The eco Association is of the strong view that the strengthening of IT security and the resilience of digital infrastructures are of great importance and must be regarded as a common responsibility.
