eco – Association of the Internet Industry has taken on the specification of the GAIA-X Federation Services and has set up a Project Management Office (PMO) and defined five work packages. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) is funding the project with around 13.5 million Euro.

In the planned amendment of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB), the eco Association still sees clear grounds for criticism. In its third round, the GWB amendment is expected to be passed by the Bundestag next Thursday.

The Service-Meister Consortium announces it will unveil its 2020-developed platform architecture at the end of the year.  Service-Meister is developing innovations using AI to improve the service processes of SMEs.

AI offers many exciting opportunities in the field of Marketing, but its use in practice lags behind. According to the eco study Digital Marketing Trends 2020, 22 percent of companies want to improve their marketing with the help of AI in 2020.

The Internet industry will be one of the most dynamic industries in Germany in the coming years, as a new joint study by the eco Association and the management consultancy Arthur D. Little shows. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, during which individual large segments of the Internet industry suffered slumps, an increase in revenue of almost 75 percent to approximately 253 billion Euro is expected by 2025.

The eco Association is working together with well-known partners on a Blockchain Governance Framework. Interested parties are invited to join the network of trust as consortium partners.

Logistics is the bottleneck in e-commerce: Eight out of ten online shoppers (85 percent) would like to see a delivery time before the last click when making a purchase. If this information is missing, one in three (32 percent) discontinue their purchase. A trend that is actually intensifying for frequent customers: 44 percent will not snap up an offer on the web if it remains unclear when products will arrive.

85 percent of employees in Germany are in favor of virtual working in light of the current crisis situation, as a representative survey of some 2,500 employees reveals. Experts from the eco Association provide concrete tips on how companies can remain up and running, in spite of the coronavirus outbreak.

The Service-Meister project was formally launched in Frankfurt am Main on 11 February 2020. Service-Meister was chosen for funding as part of the AI innovation competition of the German government.

As the IFA (the global innovations show) gets ready to open its doors in Berlin, an eco survey reveals that over a quarter of Germans are already using digital voice assistants. It also concludes: High data protection standards are key to the acceptance of AI.

Practical blockchain know-how for SMEs – 36-page white paper provides firsthand expert blockchain knowledge & application scenarios

Those who have already bought groceries over the Internet are generally happy and want to order again online, with online grocery-shopping proving particularly popular amongst households with children.  Room for improvement exists in the areas of sustainable and organic products.

On 11th December, around 100 experts met at the Blockchain Masters in Cologne, where it was agreed that, with the initial hype now behind us, more and more IT applications are now using blockchain technology as a given. In the future, this technology will even present alternatives to platform monopolies. Meanwhile, a focal point in 2019 will be asset tokenization.

On 28th November in Cologne, the eco Association will present one of the Internet industry’s most prestigious awards. In seven award categories, a jury of experts comprising of representatives from industry, academia, research, and politics has selected the three most promising submissions of 2018 and nominated them for the eco://award.

On 13th September, the eco Association e-Commerce and Online Marketing Competence Groups led an expert discussion in Frankfurt on how online retailers and shops can signal their trustworthiness and reliability – with factors such as professional design and functionalities, customer ratings, and quality seals.

The Internet as a retail path for goods of all kinds is growing strongly, but at the same time, returns present online retailers with challenges. A new study, however, has found that consumers are only making moderate use of their right to return articles and that returned articles are almost all resold.

Blockchain technology will have a decisive impact on the future of the mega-trend digitalization: this was a key message of the Blockchain Masters 2018 in Hamburg. Blockchain is regarded as offering massive potential for supporting transparent supply chains and public administration.

70 per cent of German companies would like public authorities to offer the option of exchanging data via blockchain: That is the main finding of a survey undertaken amongst companies by eco and YouGov. Effectively, the business sector in Germany are looking to administrative authorities to act as blockchain pioneers.

The discussion around electronic invoicing has picked up considerable momentum in recent weeks. The eco Association calls for stronger upskilling of users, a greater tailoring to practical user needs, and a certification of the quality of systems.

A multitude of new business concepts are emerging in the retail sector based on the growth in connection into the Internet of Things eco study recommends cross-segmental cooperation with other providers Development concepts aimed at making cities more efficient, progressive, and sustainable: this is what the term...

The declaration of consent of email recipients is the basis for legally compliant email marketing. This will apply in particular from 25 May 2018 – on this date, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will enter into force throughout Europe. Many companies are now asking how a declaration of consent needs to be formulated in order to be GDPR-compliant – given that the new regulation ...

Technical platforms based on blockchain will in particular support business applications and intermediary wants to create trust and process transactions. “New platforms are solving current problems in the areas of performance and scalability. So they will be able to take on more and more tasks in day-to-day business,” according to Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Prinz, Vice Chair of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT in Sankt Augustin.

Growing amounts of data confront many German companies with an impossible task, forcing them to squander their business potential The targeted customer approach is an underestimated competitive factor, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises Data should be used exclusively in the interests of the...

Blockchain can automate essential processes of public administrations in a manner which is tamper-proof eco Association calls for an innovation-friendly climate for testing blockchain solutions amongst authorities and administrations It enables publicly transparent, tamper-proof, and failsafe transactions: Blockchain...

Blockchain technology could enable direct transactions between energy provider and consumer in the future Blockchain business models facilitate decentralized energy supply and fosters the energy transition Legal barriers along the path to the blockchain-based energy market Will the electricity market of the future...

CSA at the dmexco in Cologne with expert presentation on email marketing CSA experts at the CSA booth offer tips on how senders can avoid legal infringements, damage to reputation and fines running into the millions The Certified Senders Alliance (CSA) supports trustworthy customer communication by email, by helping...

eco Association welcomes Ministry of the Interior’s draft legislation Finally investment security for digital transformation in companies A breakthrough in Berlin for electronic invoices: The public sector wants to create the possibility and the obligation to submit electronic invoices to public contracting bodies...

Blockchains have become known as the backbone of bitcoin and other digital currencies. However, their decentralized data structure offers an abundance of other possibilities for application. What these are, and why they are especially interesting from small and medium-sized companies, Stephan Zimprich, Leader of the eco...

Blockchain is beginning to become established – this is the view of 44 percent of SMEs in Germany, according to a YouGov survey Nine percent of companies surveyed are planning specific use of blockchain Blockchain is becoming established for specific use cases and sectors – this is the view of 44 percent of representatives...

eco offers expert advice for successful marketing emails More revenue potential for SMEs with email campaigns Simple measures for increasing reputation, ensuring legal certainty and protecting against tampering Using the tips in this guide, bulk emails actually land in the inbox of the recipient: eco – Association...