eco – Association of the Internet Industry

The EUDI Wallet is expected from early 2027. But organisations need to prepare for its practical use now. eco has joined the German Wallet-ready?!” initiative – a voluntary alliance of associations, institutions and experts supporting the introduction of European Digital Identity Wallets. #EUDI Wallets will enable secure identification, verifiable digital credentials and, in future, qualified electronic signatures. Their acceptance, however, will depend on useful applications that simplify processes for citizens, companies and public authorities. “The EUDI wallet must become more than just a digital ID. Its economic added value becomes apparent where companies can reliably verify identities and powers of representation and conclude contracts across borders,” says Andreas Weiss, Managing Director of eco. Through the FACIS project, eco is developing a Digital Contracting Service that links digital identities with specific business processes and European cloud services. From 7 August 2026, the initiative’s free German-language Wallet Briefings will provide prospective wallet officers with legal, technical and organisational guidance. Learn more and register: https://lnkd.in/eSwjVx9a

In today’s AI-driven world, what determines who is seen and who is heard? 📣 We are excited to announce that the Working Group on Defining the Minimum Viable Dataset (MVD) for Cultural and Linguistic Empowerment has released its final report! Since forming in October 2025, the diverse group of linguists, data scientists, community leaders, ethicists, technologists and policy experts has produced a practical framework and accompanying tools for communities to progress toward digital empowerment. Read the full report to explore the Working Group’s findings, recommendations, and resources → https://lnkd.in/g_ZR7fPK For more information on the project and CODI’s mission to enable universal participation in our expanding online world, learn more on our blog: https://lnkd.in/ecVpFctf #AI4all #CODI #DigitalAccess

Faster networks and larger AI clusters are only part of the equation. The bigger challenge is ensuring that connectivity, governance, and trust evolve together. The latest issue of eco's #dotmagazine explores what it really means to build the Internet of tomorrow through the perspectives of experts working across digital infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, Internet governance, and software development. This issue examines questions such as: • How will AI reshape the design of global digital infrastructure? • What does digital sovereignty require beyond political ambition? • How can trust be maintained as certificate lifecycles shorten and email evolves? • Where should responsibility for online abuse sit across the Internet stack? • And why does the future of software development still depend as much on culture as on technology? Featuring contributions from Ivo Ivanov (DE-CIX), Patrick Koetter (sys4 AG), Dr. Marc Wilczek (plusserver), Constanze von Kettler (AGNITAS AG), Thomas Kuechenthal (LEMARIT GmbH), Eric Clausing (AV-TEST), and Catrin Schröder-Jaross, the issue highlights how infrastructure, regulation, security, and people increasingly shape one another. Tomorrow's Internet will not be defined by technology alone. It will be determined by the decisions we make about resilience, sovereignty, trust, and collaboration. Read the full issue: https://lnkd.in/etyzqjvC

eco welcomes the announced appointment of Gitta Connemann MdB as Parliamentary State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernisation. Her experience in SME and economic policy provides an opportunity to better connect digitalisation with competitiveness, growth and innovation. At the same time, the focus must remain on implementation. Key projects such as the EUDI Wallet and Deutschland-Stack need to move forward without delay, while future regulation should strengthen innovation and remain practical for SMEs. “The Internet industry stands ready to support the future work of the Ministry for Digital Affairs constructively. What matters now is that this change in personnel accelerates implementation rather than delaying it. The Ministry’s new leadership will ultimately be judged by its results.” – Alexander Rabe - eco's Managing Director Read the full statement: https://lnkd.in/dA_iYsEn

From phishing campaigns and fake online shops to romance scams and business email compromise, deceptive exploitation of people increasingly spans multiple layers of the Internet infrastructure stack. While attackers operate across domains, hosting and content delivery simultaneously, defenders often act within their own layer, limiting the effectiveness of mitigation efforts. In this dotmagazine article, Bertrand de LA CHAPELLE, Executive Director of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network (I&JPN), examines why stronger coordination between Internet infrastructure operators is becoming essential. He outlines the role of the Internet Infrastructure Forum (IIF), which brings together registries, registrars, hosting providers, CDNs and other stakeholders to develop practical approaches for cross-stack coordination, including voluntary data sharing and improved abuse management workflows. Read the full article in dotmagazine: https://lnkd.in/eYHZcEwX

𝐈𝐒𝐃 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 | 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 The European Commission's Internet Standards Deployment (ISD) Forum is now developing practical guidelines to help organisations implement security-related Internet standards required under the NIS2 Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690. The work focuses on four key areas that underpin a more secure and resilient Internet: • IPv6 deployment and network-layer communication • Email security, including SPF, DKIM and DMARC • DNS security, including DNSSEC, encrypted DNS and resilience • Internet routing security and routing hygiene Following its third meeting in June, the Forum has moved from identifying relevant standards to drafting concrete implementation guidance. Beyond technical recommendations, the work also addresses governance, risk management, implementation roadmaps and practical ways for organisations to assess their current level of maturity. A central principle is to build on existing standards and proven best practices rather than creating new frameworks. eco is contributing the Internet industry's technical, regulatory and operational expertise to ensure the resulting guidance is technically robust, practical and proportionate for organisations of different sizes and business models. We will continue to keep our members informed as the guidelines progress and highlight opportunities to contribute practical experience to the process. 🔗https://lnkd.in/ernnuc28

In our latest member interview, Stefan Bastian, Managing Director of ebm-papst neo, explains why cooling is about far more than temperature control. With cooling accounting for around 20% to 30% of a data centre's operational energy consumption, intelligent air management and AI-supported control systems are becoming essential for improving efficiency, increasing performance and supporting more sustainable operations. The interview also explores how ebm-papst supports operators throughout the entire data centre life cycle – from planning and retrofit projects to the optimisation of live environments – and why closer collaboration across the digital infrastructure ecosystem is increasingly important. As a new member of the eco Association, ebm-papst aims to contribute its expertise to the exchange on resilient, efficient and sustainable digital infrastructures. Read the full interview: 🔗https://lnkd.in/e7wHk-ZC

Today, we're announcing the publication of the Language Infrastructure Framework, a new resource from the Coalition on Digital Impact (CODI) that maps what it takes to build a truly multilingual Internet. A language is only meaningfully present online when people can complete everyday digital tasks entirely in that language, without being pushed into another one along the way. Inspired by the traditional Internet Stack, the Framework breaks the online experience into nine layers showing where language support has to exist for real digital participation. Because right now, for many language communities, the experience is incomplete: ⚠️ A language may be readable but not writable. ⚠️ It may show up in search results but not in AI systems. ⚠️ It may work for browsing but disappear during account recovery, payments, or trust and safety messages. We built this Framework to be used, not just read. Apply it to your own work to find out: → Where your language is well supported → Where the gaps are → Where there's an opportunity to close them Then tell us what you find. Your real-world feedback will help #CODI build a shared language for identifying barriers — and a shared roadmap for removing them. Check it out → https://lnkd.in/e7x86VjE

As the European Commission develops guidelines for implementing the #TrustedFlagger mechanism under the Digital Services Act (#DSA), the focus now shifts from legislation to practical application. In its newly published position paper, eco – Association of the Internet Industry welcomes the Commission's draft guidelines while identifying areas where further clarification is needed to support legally certain, harmonised and practical implementation. Drawing on the experience of the eco Complaints Office, which has been assessing and forwarding reports of illegal online content for 30 years, eco highlights the importance of clear procedures that strengthen existing reporting structures without creating unnecessary administrative burdens. Among other recommendations, eco calls for: • greater transparency and predictability in the recognition process for Trusted Flaggers • objective criteria for assessing independence and accuracy • practical safeguards to preserve the integrity of Trusted Flagger status • avoiding additional obligations for online platforms beyond those set out in the DSA Read the full position paper: https://lnkd.in/ecwGcTbQ

Since 15 March 2026, the maximum validity period for publicly trusted #TLS certificates has been 200 days. It will fall to 100 days in March 2027 and to 47 days in March 2029. For organisations, this means more frequent renewals, tighter validation cycles and a greater need for clear ownership and automation. In his latest #dotmagazine article, Christophe G., Product & Marketing Director at Nameshield Group, explains how shorter certificate lifespans can improve security while also increasing the risk of missed renewals and service outages. He also examines the role of Automated Certificate Management Environment (#ACME) and Certificate Lifecycle Management (#CLM) in managing certificates across complex environments. Read the full article: 🔗https://lnkd.in/eRgazcfR