The draft bill for an Act to Strengthen Cybersecurity intervenes deeply in the architecture and control logic of digital infrastructures and fundamentally shifts the understanding of cybersecurity. eco – Association of the Internet Industry strongly criticises this paradigm shift.

In the run-up to the event "Future-Proof Data Centres in the Age of AI – New Challenges for Infrastructure, the Power Grid and Existing Facilities", Michael Würth, Global Head of Datacenter Services GRF at SAP, explains how data centres must position themselves technologically and energetically in order to operate AI workloads efficiently, resiliently and sustainably.

Increasing power densities, AI applications and modular expansion concepts are fundamentally changing the requirements for data centres. Matthias Nitschke, Director of Data Center Solutions at Corning, talks to eco about the role fibre architectures play in scalability and future-proofing, how planning and collaboration are changing, and what aspects decision-makers should consider today in order to create sustainable data center infrastructures for the long term.

The Digital Omnibus on artificial intelligence (AI) represents an important opportunity to recalibrate the implementation of the AI Act in a way that strengthens innovation, legal certainty, and Europe’s international competitiveness while preserving high standards of protection.

eco welcomes the Digital Omnibus as an important step toward simplifying the European digital regulatory framework and strengthening legal certainty for data-driven innovation, while maintaining high standards of fundamental rights protection.

The role of system houses within the IT market is less evident today than it was a few years ago. Today, these firms operate within dynamic value-added networks where responsibilities, dependencies, and economic scope are constantly shifting. The System House Dialog 2030 is exclusively for representatives of system houses, MSPs, and regional CSPs.

The debate on a legal minimum age for social media continues to gain momentum. Initiatives from the German SPD and CDU/CSU parties envisage mandatory age verification and, in some cases, far-reaching restrictions. eco Association calls for a differentiated, European-coordinated solution and warns against blanket bans.

AI applications, industrial real-time processes and data-intensive services are fundamentally transforming the requirements for digital infrastructures. Fibre optics remain the foundation; however, proximity to computing power is becoming increasingly decisive. In an interview, Lutz Lohse, Managing Director of enviaTEL, explains why edge data centres in particular are becoming a strategic building block: they enable local data processing, reduce latency and create economic added value for industry and municipalities.

Eco is hosting its annual summer reception at its Berlin office on the evening of September 10 - bringing together key players shaping the internet and digital policy industry.