Together with eleven co-exhibitors, eco presented itself at this year’s Tech Show Frankfurt on 4 and 5 June and helped shape the official trade fair programme with a total of seven panel discussions. In addition to providing content, the eco joint stand with an on-site barista served as a central point of contact for anyone interested in the cloud, digital infrastructures, and innovations from the digital industry.
Data centres as the backbone of digitalisation
A key topic was the role of data centres in an increasingly connected world and in connection with growing demands from key technologies such as artificial intelligence. Questions about energy efficiency, resilience, securing skilled workers and technological development dominated the discussions. It became clear that data centres are not just physical infrastructure, but strategic hubs for business, innovation and sustainability.
The market is currently undergoing dynamic development: data centre operators are reporting increased demand for open source alternatives from the municipal sector, and the growing importance of electricity and network infrastructure for the location of data centres. Uniform regulations and productive cooperation with other stakeholders, such as electricity grid operators, are, therefore, crucial for the rapid expansion of the digital ecosystem.
Future-proof cloud infrastructures
Cloud technologies are a central building block for a future-proof and self-determined digital infrastructure in Europe. Open standards, data availability and legally compliant use are essential in this context, laying the foundations for sustainable digital value creation. Discussions at Tech Show 2025 underscored the relevance of interoperable and standardised approaches to strengthening the scalability and innovative capacity of European cloud infrastructures without compromising data protection, security and legal clarity. At the same time, a diverse cloud ecosystem is conducive to maintaining a competitive, innovative and resilient market.
The 8ra initiative shows one possible way in which a European cloud and edge infrastructure could look: it enables flexible and secure connection of cloud and edge resources across provider boundaries. As an example of a federated, public-private ecosystem, 8ra illustrates how digital resilience can be achieved in practice through collaboration between industry, government and research.
The Tech Show 2025 has shown that digital technologies and the ecosystem of digital infrastructures are developing dynamically. Together with its members and partners, eco is helping to shape this process.
The new members+ portal for eco members offers even more insights into the Tech Show 2025 and detailed reports on individual panel discussions. The new portal is now available in German. The English-language version of the new portal will be launched in Q4 2025 and, until then, members can access webinar recordings and exclusive downloads in the existing members+ area.
