Policy & Law

eco Association on the AI Act: Harmonised Transposition is Crucial for Europe’s Competitiveness as a Digital Location

On the occasion of today’s vote on the AI Act in the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU Member States, eco – Association of the Internet Industry calls for a practical transposition and EU-wide harmonised criteria for dealing with AI systems.

date 2024/02/02

press

Artificial Intelligence

eco Association on the AI Act: EU and Germany Must Not Repeat Mistakes of GDPR

Based on the latest developments, Germany is expected to approve the current draft of the AI Act this coming Friday. eco Association advocates for a real-world transposition and EU-wide standardised criteria in dealing with AI systems.

date 2024/01/31

press

Policy & Law

eco Association on the Budget Debate: “Cutting back on the digital budget means cutting back on our future viability”

Today, the German Bundestag begins its deliberations on the 2024 federal budget and the German federal government’s financial planning for the period up to 2027. In this context, eco Chair Oliver Süme cautions against any further cuts in funding for the implementation of digitalisation plans and projects.

date 2024/01/30

press

Datacenter

eco Alliance on the EED Delegated Act: EU Must Not Overburden Data Centres with Bureaucracy

The EU Commission's Energy Efficiency Directive requires operators of data centres with an IT capacity of 500 kW or more to publish their energy efficiency data in the future. The eco Alliance is in favour of common European standards for the energy-efficient and climate-neutral operation of data centres. However, the current reporting obligations should be kept within reasonable limits.

date 2024/01/17

press

eco

eco Survey: Every Second Person Wants to Use E-Prescriptions Digitally

Since the beginning of the year, doctors have been obliged to issue e-prescriptions that can be redeemed in pharmacies using an app or the electronic health card (eGK). The majority of Germans (53.7 per cent) welcome this and say they would like to use e-prescriptions digitally in the future.

date 2024/01/11

press

Policy & Law

eco on the AI Act: Missed Opportunity for Activating an Innovative AI Ecosystem in Europe

eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme comments on the AI Act adopted by the EU: “The EU aimed to be a pioneer with the AI regulation – but it doesn’t look like Europe has done itself a favour as a digital and AI location, given the agreement on the European AI Act that has now been presented. I particularly regret...

date 2023/12/12

press

Policy & Law

Mid-Term German Traffic Light Coalition: Approximately 80% of Germans Dissatisfied with the German Federal Government’s Digital Policy

eco survey at the mid-term of the traffic light coalition: 78.2 per cent believe that the traffic light coalition is not driving the digital transformation forward.

date 2023/12/05

press

Lars Steffen

Domains

Lars Steffen, eco Association, is EuroISPA Vice-President

EuroISPA, the umbrella organisation of European provider associations, has elected Lars Steffen, Head of International, Digital Infrastructures & Resilience at eco – Association of the Internet Industry, as its new Vice-President.

date 2023/12/01

press

Policy & Law

Mid-term Review of German Coalition: Stop-and-Go Instead...

After two years since the formation of the current German "traffic light" coalition, eco provides a mixed assessment of the progress in digital policy. In the Traffic Light Coalition Check, the association analysed twelve areas of Internet policy action and compared them with the goals of the coalition agreement. The conclusion reached by eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme. “Instead of an ambitious digital policy, after two years of the current German coalition government, we are experiencing at best a stop-and-go.”

date 2023/11/20

press

Policy & Law

Digital Turning Point in Germany Requires Sovereign and Efficient Digital Infrastructures

Germany is at a turning point. At the German federal government’s Digital Summit in Jena on 20 and 21 November 2023, representatives from business, society, science and politics will discuss how digital services and technologies contribute to addressing multiple challenges such as the fight against effects of advancing climate change, the increasing scarcity of resources, or the energy crisis.

date 2023/11/20

press

Policy & Law

November 18 is the European Day of Action against Child Sexual Exploitation: Safely Report Online Depictions of Child Abuse

To mark the European Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, the German hotlines FSM, eco and jugendschutz.net have compiled important tips for dealing in Germany with online depictions of abuse of minors.

date 2023/11/16

press

Policy & Law

eco: Trilogue Must Recognise Signals and Revise CSAM Regulation

Today, the EU Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) voted in favour of its recently presented compromise on the EU Commission’s proposed CSAM Regulation. With this compromise, the lead EU parliamentary committee imposes clear limitations on the proposed chat controls and opposes the weakening of end-to-end encryption.

date 2023/11/14

press

Policy & Law

Gigabit Rollout in Germany Must Be Facilitated 

Associations in Germany are calling for improvements in the conditions for network rollout. Today the Gigabit Symposium – organised by ANGA, Bitkom, BREKO, BUGLAS, eco and VATM – is reviewing the situation together with politicians and the industry, with the current German federal government now two years in action. The important EU level groundwork is also under discussion.

date 2023/11/14

press

Artificial Intelligence

42 Per Cent of Germans Still Sceptical Regarding the Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

AI is a key technology of the future with a wide range of possible applications and the potential to transform the economy, science and society. Nevertheless, there are still major reservations about AI-based technologies in large parts of the German population, as displayed through an eco/Civey survey. eco calls for a broad debate in order to boost societal acceptance.

date 2023/11/13

press

Policy & Law

eco on Germany’s newly created federal state body: “The Digital Ministers’ Conference of the federal states can raise digital policy to a new level”

eco expressly welcomes the fact that the key theme of “digitalisation” is receiving its own federal state body at ministerial level for the first time, thereby aligning with the conferences of ministers of other established departments.

date 2023/11/13

press