Under the title “Smart Office, AI & Co. - The Brave New World of Work”, the eco New Work and IoT Competence Groups will be hosting a joint event at Hewlett Packard Enterprise in Böblingen, Germany on 12 September. In the run-up to the event, we conducted an interview with our speaker Marc Hölscher, IT architect at netgo, about the challenges and trends of hybrid work in practice.

dotmagazine is the online international magazine covering Internet industry topics. It features exciting articles from members & partners and covers the entire spectrum of the Internet industry. In this dotmagazine issue, nine leading experts reveal how resilient digital infrastructure is the essential foundation powering innovation, sustainability, and the digital future.

From August 2024, Giovanni Coppa, Digital Innovation Lead at Research Industrial Systems Engineering (RISE), a consultancy for research, development and large-scale projects, will take over the leadership of the IoT Competence Group at the eco Association.

Modern technologies offer the potential to significantly enhance the efficiency of rescue operations, improve communication and ultimately save lives. There are numerous touchpoints and aspects of digitalisation in rescue services, ranging from innovative individual solutions to measures for the digitalisation of the entire rescue chain.

We spoke to Thomas Strasser, Worldwide Chief Technologist – Workplace Productivity, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, about the role of IoT and AI for the workplace of the future.

Explore strategies for creating secure, collaborative digital environments that prioritize trust – the cornerstone of all human connections – in the May issue of dotmagazine.

Together with member companies, eco – Association of the Internet Industry took part in the Mobile World Congress 2024. At the joint NRW stand, eco, VS-Apps, VIVAI and Janado showcased solutions for the Internet of Things of the future.

What is the security situation in the IoT? Eric Clausing, Head of IoT at AV-TEST GmbH, talks about this in a short interview on the occasion of the eco webinar “Security in the IoT – Cyber Resilience Act, what now?”

Only 40.8 per cent of respondents reported having a maximum of three devices connected to the Internet, with the over-65s in particular using fewer online devices than younger people. These are the findings of a recent survey conducted by the market and opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the eco – Association of the Internet Industry.

eco and Janado will be at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona from 26-29 February. At the NRW joint stand CS.318, Janado will be presenting premium refurbished technology, as explained by Kamran Doorsoun in a short interview.

In an interview with eco, VS-Apps Managing Director Florian Schulz talks about the development and use of business apps for customer loyalty and process automation, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the importance of digital transformation for German SMEs.

At the beginning of the 2023 heating season, only 8 per cent of Germans use smart heating thermostats that can be controlled via an app. Just a few take advantage of other digital solutions to save energy: 11.2 per cent of Germans control their lighting using motion detectors, while 10.3 per cent use smart shower heads. Additionally, only 7 per cent control their sockets via an app.

From 26-29 February 2024, Barcelona will host the Mobile World Congress (MWC). In the run-up to the event, we had a conversation with Dr. Bettina Horster, Board Member at VIVAI Software AG and Head of the IoT Competence Group at eco Association, regarding her expectations for the trade fair and the trends in the Internet of Things (IoT) sector that will have a lasting impact on the industry in the future.

At the cross-competence group event titled to “IoT Competence Group/Networks CG: Digital Infrastructure as the Basis for Smart Home Applications”, jointly organised with Huawei Germany, eco engaged in discussions with various experts from the IoT and network fields, regarding the importance of digital infrastructure and its necessity for the smart home.

In the run-up to the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, we interviewed Giovanni Coppa, eco Competence Group Leader Mobility and Head of Data Center and Cloud Innovation at WOBCOM GmbH, about his expectations for the trade fair, and his take on current and future challenges in the field of Smart City and Smart Mobility.

We spoke to Dr. Michael Lipka, Senior Manager Technology Strategy, Huawei Technologies Germany, about the crucial role of digital infrastructures and wireless technologies for Smart Home use cases. On 12 September 2023, the eco Networks and IoT Competence Groups  will meet at the Huawei OpenLab in Ismaning to discuss groundbreaking topics of current and future Smart Home applications under the motto "Digital Infrastructure as the Basis of Smart Home Applications" (a German-language event).

On 12 September 2023, the eco Networks and IoT Competence Groups will come together at the Huawei OpenLab in Ismaning to discuss groundbreaking key topics of current and future smart home applications under the motto of "Digital Infrastructure as the Foundation of Smart Home Applications". In the run-up to the event, we’ve had the opportunity to talk to Lorenz Grehlich, Head of Planning and Implementation at M-net.

Whether in the supermarket, restaurant or at the bakery: one in four people hold their mobile phone or smartwatch against the card reader to pay. The latest eco/Civey study shows that the number of mobile payment users has doubled in the last four years.

Online-based technologies for outdoor activities have become popular summer companions for nearly half of the population in Germany. At 27.3 percent, the most popular applications include smartphones with holiday apps for hiking tours, for example.

In an eco interview, we talked to Michael Nicolai, Head of Sales Business Unit IT, Rittal, about digital ecosystems, smart factories and the challenges of transformation processes.

In the run-up to the event, we spoke with Marcel Klein, Strategic Partner Manager, plusserver, about data lakes and digital sovereignty and the central challenges of Industry 4.0.

At our Mobility Competence Group meeting,“Urban Mobility – Interaction of IoT and Mobility for the Implementation of Mobility Solutions”, eco entered into discussion with various experts from the mobility and IoT environment on the topics of data generation, data usage, data management and data policy. Together with our host, WOBCOM in Wolfsburg, and our CG Mobility Leader Giovanni Coppa, we arrived at exciting content and a highly productive CG meeting.

According to eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme: “The German federal government Data Strategy must clarify open questions related to the use of data in an economic context.”

eco Survey: 83.7 per cent of IT experts believe that the German industry is in a worse position than its international competitors. 55 per cent complain about bureaucratic hurdles in digitalisation projects in German industry.

In 2023, the eco Association was once again part of the NRW joint stand organised by NRW.Global Business and Koelnmesse at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. This year, the Head of the eco IoT Competence Group, Dr Bettina Horster, took on the position of State Representative for the first time.

At 8.2 per cent, smart solutions in the heating sector are those most frequently used in German households. This is the result of a survey of 2,500 people conducted by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry in mid-February 2023.

The year 2023 will be the year of artificial intelligence (AI). The hype around ChatGPT, the AI that can write essays, articles or texts within seconds using just a few lines of input, continues unabated. Voice assistants also use the potential of AI and are constantly developing to provide users with even better results....

At the cross-competence group event “IoT CG/ Data Centre CG: Data Centres as an Integrative Element of Sustainable Smart City and Smart Building Solutions”, which was jointly implemented with ABB and its subsidiary Busch-Jaeger Elektro GmbH, eco Association started the discussion on the topic of smart ecosystems with various experts from the IoT and data centre environment.

Holiday time is burglary time, a Smart Home offers appropriate security systems. However, vulnerabilities in Smart Home solutions are also becoming increasingly apparent. Jan Wendenburg, CEO, ONEKEY, explains in an interview how to secure your Smart Home solutions and the integrated connected IoT devices.

What risks and extra costs arise if cybersecurity in IoT use cases is not implemented and monitored along the entire lifecycle? An interview with Axel Dittmann, Senior IoT, Data & AI Technical Specialist EMEA, Microsoft Germany, about best practices and avoidable mistakes.