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Socially Responsible Digitalization: Call for Contributions

Digital Infrastructure & Transforming Markets: Call for Contributions

The Time is Now: The Need for Government Blockchain

Blockchain technology offers massive potential for state administration. Stephan Zimprich, Leader of the eco Competence Group Blockchain, looks at how this foundational technology could transform e-government.

Cyber Security

Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Security

Nils Kammann, Solutions Architect at Xantaro, on the hype of artificial intelligence in cyber security, an essential delineation of terminology, the challenges we face, and the need and chance for new security models.

Feature Artificial Intelligence

AI, Human Rights, and Algorithmic Transparency

How do AI and automated decision-making co-exist with human rights and self-determination? Michael Rotert from the eco Association provides an overview of the Council of Europe’s deliberations on a topic which presents both potential benefits and ethical challenges for society.

Digital Transformation

Digitalization: The Key Competences SMEs Should Bet On

How can SMEs stand out in the crowd and find their target customer in a changing business environment? Lucie Poisson and Martin Schmidt from 1&1 IONOS investigate.

Company Security

Winning Back Data Control With Smart Web Security

The web landscape has changed drastically over the years, often resulting a loss in the control of data. Kristina Vervoort, Regional Sales Director DACH for Netskope, explains how you can win back this data control with smart web security.

Cyber Security

Prevention, Defense, and Detection: IT Security in Companies

With increasingly sophisticated and personalized attacks on company IT, companies need to develop new ways of dealing with IT security risks. Prevention is no longer enough, according to Nikolei Steinhage from Fidelis.

Feature Company Security

How Much of an IT Security Risk Are You to Your Company?

The best security is only as strong as its worst password and naivest user. Markus Schaffrin from the eco Association explains how important the behavior of staff and management is for company security.

Feature Cyber Security

IT Security: Don’t Try to Make the Impossible Possible

IT security is a major cause for concern for companies, and it is important to ensure a good level of security to protect against hacker attacks and industrial espionage. But should companies aim for perfect security? This is not sensible, Karsten Nohl from Security Research Labs tells dotmagazine.

Company Security

“Phishing” Your Staff to Raise Security Awareness

Do you want to improve IT security in your company? The number one task is to train your staff in security awareness on a regular basis, according to Dr. Niklas Hellemann from SoSafe Cyber Security Awareness.

Networks

Secure SD-WAN – Helping CIOs Meet their Goals

Is it possible for CIOs to both reduce costs and increase agility, and at the same time ensure security and compliance? Yes, says Jack Miller, CISO at Open Systems.

Feature Internet Governance

Having a Voice as a Stakeholder in the Internet

Helping to define the digital world of the future: Michael Rotert, Honorary President of the eco Association, explains how each of us can have a voice in global Internet governance discussions.

Data Center

Making the Right Decision for Your Data Center Strategy: 4 Approaches to Financing Your Company IT Infrastructure

What best suits your company needs and budget for your IT infrastructure? Marc Fröse from Etix Everywhere looks at the alternatives.

Cloud Computing

Freedom and Control of Data in the Multi-Cloud

Wally MacDermid, VP Cloud Business Development at Scality, on how companies can manage their multiple cloud services, avoid lock-in, and maintain data protection compliance.

Feature Digital Communication

Manage Presence and Achieve More

How presence management makes it possible to work more elegantly in a simple way - Detlev Artelt from aixvox offers advice to companies for the successful transition to new modes of working and managing.

The Future Email Experience

Email has been around a long time now, but it’s still got a lot of life left in it. Marcel Becker from Oath explains how email will evolve in the future.

Digital Transformation

Surfing the Digital Wave to Success

B2B businesses are also developing new business models. But successfully surfing the second digital wave requires sustainable and responsible information management, writes Jos Bischoff from BCT.

Content Management System

Content Management in the Cloud – How to Get Out of the Scaling Trap

Marketers want their campaigns to “go viral.” But what happens when they actually do? Will your CMS withstand a run on your website? Markus Krenn from Arvato Systems elaborates.

Online Marketing

Digital Transformation in Customer Communication: Win-Win Situations for Customers and Brands

Digital transformation successfully applied to customer communication can become a marketing differentiation factor and a crucial part of the brand experience, Lucie Poisson from 1&1 explains.

Email Marketing

The Power of Email for Brands

Email is far from dead: It is an essential tool for brands and has evolved into a strong link in the customer journey, according to Christian Hanke from Edenspiekermann.

Network Security & Safety

Improving the Security and Resilience of the Internet through MANRS

MANRS brings together network operators, ISPs, and IXPs to improve routing hygiene, increasing the security and resilience of the Internet, Christoph Dietzel from DE-CIX explains.

Feature Cyber Security

Shouldering Responsibility for IT Security – A Multi-Stakeholder Approach

IT security is the mutual responsibility of all stakeholders, from civil society to industry and government, says Prof. Norbert Pohlmann

Email Marketing

BIMI – Controlling Brand Image Online

BIMI – or Branded Indicators for Message Identification – is an industry standardization effort that brands and Email Service Providers will love, according to Thede Loder, from the Authindicators Working Group.

Self-regulation

The Economics of Trust in Digital Services

Trust is emerging as a crucial factor for the success of Internet service providers and is challenging the established economics of digital services, writes Rafael Laguna from Open-Xchange.

Data Center

3 Reasons Why Open Source is the Future of Data Center Hardware

The Open Compute Project (OCP) brings together hundreds of companies – vendors, system integrators, and users – to come up with the smart innovations that a modern data center needs, Robbert Hoeffnagel explains.

Data Protection & Privacy

Data Sovereignty: Does the Use of My Data Always Require My Consent?

Martin Przewloka of msg Group explores data ownership, data sovereignty, and issues with consent and anonymization of personal data.

Feature Online Marketing

Immunizing Email Marketing Against Brand Impersonation

Prevention is better than cure: DMARC offers protection against phishing attacks, saving brands from the headache and cost of reputation damage, as Julia-Janssen Holldiek, Director of the Certified Senders Alliance, explains.

Identity Management

ID4me – An Open, Global, Federated Standard for Digital Identity Management

There is clearly a strong need for a universal digital identity – and the public, open, privacy-friendly ID4me protocol offers just the solution, as Katja Speck explains.

Feature Notice & Takedown

Take-Down and Terms of Service – The Keys to Self-Regulating Online Content

Alexandra Koch-Skiba, Head of the eco Complaints Office, on how self-regulation is not just the best way for swiftly removing illegal content from the Internet, but can also help to prevent it from getting up there in the first place.

Feature Internet Governance

Does Self-Regulation Empower Industry?

Michael Rotert explores the variety of measures for governing the global Internet – and how laws can’t keep up with technological development

Domains

The Web Alienates Non-English Speakers — And We Need to Change That

The Internet does not work the same for everyone, depending on which domain name or language they use. Universal Acceptance seeks to remedy this.

Cyber Security

Securing Smart Contracts

Smart contracts, based on blockchain technology, are software programs that offer a very secure and transparent way of documenting and automating business processes. But as software programs, they are not immune to security vulnerabilities, as Professor Alexandra Dmitrienko explains.

e-Government

E-Government on Blockchain: About Obstacles and Chances

Public administration offers and requires the same properties as blockchain: transparency, trust, and immutability. But does this predestine blockchain to be suitable for all e-government processes? Volker Skwarek explores potential use cases.

Feature e-ID

Blockchain for Securing Digital Identities

With more and more people and IoT devices connecting to the Internet, solutions are needed to authenticate unique digital identities. The eco Association looks at ways to alleviate the digital identity crisis and to offer users a secure online ID on the basis of blockchain.

e-Government

Government Blockchain Infrastructure – A Chance for Europe

Blockchain offers governments the opportunity to revolutionize their handling of citizen data and the allocation of rights in secure e-government scenarios. Dieter Rehfeld argues for the development of a European public-sector blockchain infrastructure, establishing Europe as a leader in the area, and giving data control back to citizens.

Feature e-Government

Creating Trustworthy E-Government Services with Blockchain

Digitalizing government services requires the entire process of storing and handling the data of citizens to be revolutionized. Taavi Kotka, former Chief Information Officer of the Estonian Government, explains the value of e-government services to a country, and how blockchain helps to overcome the hurdles to transformation.

Feature Cyber Security

Trust & Security in the Blockchain

The early use cases for blockchain technology centered around cryptocurrencies. But the same processes that secure Bitcoin and friends can also be used for securing other forms of data, for example in administration. So, what is it that makes blockchain so secure? Professor Norbert Pohlmann, from the eco Association, explains.

Blockchain

Blockchain for Education: Lifelong Learning Passport

How blockchain can be used for educational qualifications to provide a guarantee of authenticity for digital certificates. An illustration based on the Blockchain for Education platform.

Feature Data Protection & Privacy

The Proposed EU E-Privacy Regulation

Electronic Communications, Technological Neutrality, and Consent for Cookies: Hot on the heels of the GDPR, the European Union is working towards a sister regulation, the ePrivacy Regulation. In this video interview, Oliver Süme, Chair of the eco Association, explains the current status of the legislation and what companies need to be prepared for.

Blockchain

Blockchain Technology: A Must for Modern and Forward-Looking IT

Martin Przewloka, CDO of msg group automotive, explains how blockchain can be utilized in marketable products, and how companies can develop prototypes.

Cyber Security

New Frontiers for Car Security: API Management

When it comes to driverless cars, most of the talk is about high-precision sensors and AI. But a host of other enabling IT services bring their own risks. Marco Comastri of CA Technologies argues for the need for a paradigm shift among OEMs: one that would make cyber and network security as much of a core competence as engine control, airbags, or brakes.

Connectivity

The Car as Connected Platform — Connecting Stakeholders in the Automotive Industry

The future of the car and innovative mobility solutions relies on interconnection platforms which can bring together diverse ecosystems. A look at the centrality of connectivity to the evolution of the connected car.

Feature Cyber Security

Connected Car Security

The potential for the connected car to improve safety on the road is immense, but its ability to do so also depends on the IT security built into the system. dotmagazine spoke to IT security specialist and Member of the Board at the eco Association, Professor Norbert Pohlmann, about the challenges of securing connected cars.

Blockchain

Blockchain-based Solutions and IT/Cyber Security for Autonomous Driving – Legal Barriers

The great complexity of the technical processes used in connected and autonomous cars leads to complex legal requirements. Two attorneys-at-law from DWF Germany, Klaus M. Brisch and Marco Müller-ter Jung, explore the raft of associated implications – spanning contract and liability issues to issues of IT and data security – and conclude that legal innovations at European level might enhance further technical progress.

Feature Connectivity

Building the Infrastructure for the Future Driving Experience

Realizing the vision of the connected and self-driving car of the future will require significant advances in connectivity, and the IoT will need to be built into the landscape to provide a seamless user experience. Klaus Landefeld, Vice-Chair of the Board at the eco Association, on the intelligent highway.

Digital Infrastructure

The Car as a Driver for Data Growth Needing New Infrastructure Solutions

What does the “data footprint” of a modern car look like? Frank Zachmann from Innovit360 explains how to manage the masses of data generated by the modern car at the modular edge of the Internet.

New Work

Mobility Thought Differently – Pure Fiction?

Martin Przewloka, from msg systems, introduces a new intelligent way to take the stress out of the daily commute, giving workers more freedom, flexibility and time.

Feature Smart City

Urban mobility – Parking and Car Sharing in Tomorrow’s Cities

How can we solve the increasing congestion and pollution in cities caused by traffic? Thomas Frohn from VDI Wissensforum looks at how data is used to optimize automotive offers.

Energy Efficiency

A Delphi-Based Estimation of Several Ecological Utility Values of Internet Applications

How video conferencing and telecommuting can help to reduce the ecological footprint of companies. Prof. Georg Rainer Hofmann & Meike Schumacher from the Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences explain.

eco News

What's New in eco June 2018

News from the eco Association

DDoS

Two Sides of DDoS Attacks: The Largest Attack of All Time and Focus on SMEs

Even though we recently experienced the largest DDoS attack of all time: With Denial-of-Service attacks, it is no longer just a question of bringing down the websites and online shops of large companies. Now, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) also need protection, according to Niko Bender from PlusServer.

Digital Transformation

Accessing Your Data Dividend

The growing value of data to businesses and economies is undeniable. A first of its kind report helps to understand the impact that data adds to the economy and the additional value businesses can unlock, as Rob Coupland from Digital Realty explains.

Data Center

OSDA – a New Approach for the Sustainability of Data Centers

The exponential growth in data collection and processing has been accompanied by a colossal use of energy. Lex Coors of Interxion describes a new standard that helps data centers to strike a balance between the principles of availability and sustainability.

GDPR

Data Audits – the Key to GDPR Compliance

Data audits deliver key insight into what a company and its employees are doing in the cloud. Kristina Vervoort, Regional Sales Director for the DACH Region at Netskope, explains exactly how these data audits help a company determine whether their cloud services are GDPR-compliant or not.

Feature GDPR

No Need to Fear the GDPR

A recent representative survey of 600 marketing decision-makers shows that implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation – in force from May 25 2018 – is still a work in progress.

Green IT

Green Efficiency

How Europe's leading hyperscale cloud provider, OVH, uses climate-friendly techniques to cool its servers – good for the environment and the pocket, as Dr Jens Zeyer from OVH Germany explains.

eco News

What’s New in eco May 2018

News from the eco Association

Feature

Business Users & Online Content: Survey

The dotmagazine survey on the Consumption of Online Business-Related Content: investigating user preferences, needs and behavior regarding business-related digital content.

Cyber Security

Security and E-Health: Between Privacy and Beneficial Innovation

Maik Morgenstern, CTO at AV-Test, offers advice on what to look for in e-health gadgets and services in order to benefit from innovations without giving away too much sensitive data.

Digital Infrastructure

IoT – Innovations, Obstacles & Trends

Frank Zachmann from innovIT360 explains the infrastructure challenges for developing the innovative power of the Internet of Things and offers a solution for the future of digital infrastructure.

Cyber Security

Whatever, put a chip in it

The careless days in IoT are numbered: Sebastian Floss explores the value of Security by Design for IoT devices, and offers 4 simple rules to get started.

Digital Infrastructure

Infrastructure for the Evolution of the City

Spencer Hinzen from Ruckus, on the need for connectivity infrastructure in order for cities to evolve into the smart cities they want to become.

Feature Industrial IoT

Internet Access is the Key to Sustainable Development

Internet infrastructure is contributing to the achievement of the United Nations’ global development goals: Alexander Rabe, Managing Director of the eco Association, on how IoT improves water supply and makes agriculture more efficient.

Feature IoT

Smart Service Power: A Case Study on Building a Successful IoT Aged Care Service

IoT offers great potential to transform society for the better, but where do you start? Bettina Horster from VIVAI Software illustrates the steps taken to develop a new IoT-supported solution for aged care.

Digital Infrastructure

Industrial Internet of Things: How the Right Infrastructure Boosts Growth and Innovation

Donald Badoux, Managing Director of Equinix Germany, on how the right IoT Infrastructure can help companies fully monetize previously unavailable or inaccessible enterprise- and machine-generated data in the industrial Internet of Things.

Feature Email Marketing

Transactional Email: Missing in Action?

The power of transactional emails as direct customer communication is often overlooked by companies in favor of marketing emails. Julia Janssen-Holldiek, Director of the CSA, explores their importance and offers advice on getting them delivered.

Email Marketing

Take Care of Your Business – and Let an ESP Take Care of Your Emails

Emailing may be a basic tool for your marketing and customer communications, but is it your core business? Magnus Eén from Westwing describes how online companies can find their balance between in-house and outsourced expertise.

Feature Email Best Practices

Unsubscribe with Just One Click – Happy Cat, Happy Customer

How One-Click protects the reputation of bulk mailers and prevents accidental unsubscription.

Branding

How Your Branding Enlivens Your Online Presence

Branding is about more than just using a name, displaying a logo, or quoting a slogan, as Lucie Poisson explains. It may even help you to redefine your overall strategy.

dotBrands

What dotBrands Can Do for Companies

dotBrands use their brand names to the right side of the dot in an Internet address. In this way, .brands work exactly like long-standing top-level domains such as .com or .de – but simultaneously open up a large number of new possibilities. Not only do dotBrands have a complete universe of Internet addresses open to them; they can also innovate new business models, expand their distribution channels, and align their online marketing activities. But how many dotBrands are there at present? And how exactly do companies benefit from their own top-level domain?

Brand Protection

Protecting Brands Online Through Domain Names

How valuable is a domain name to a brand? Very, says Martin Kuechenthal, CEO of LEMARIT – companies need to establish, monitor, and protect their brand names, through domain names, in cyber space.

Social Media

Doing Business in Germany: Knowing Your Social Media Channels

Social media in Germany may not be tapped into as regularly as in other markets. Therefore, companies should know their platforms and their target audiences and, most importantly, know how to address them.

Online Marketing

The Pros and Cons of Ad Blocking - Finding the Balance

dotmagazine interviews stakeholders from both sides of the ad blocking debate – Christian Bennefeld from eBlocker and Joerg Muehle from the publisher Heise Medien – to look at how the best interests of users can be served in online advertising.

Digital Education

Smart Campus – Merging Smart City and Smart Home in Education for Digital Natives

What makes a university or college fit for the digital millennium? Rich Nedwich from Ruckus explains to dotmagazine the concept of a Smart Campus.

Feature Digital Education

Building a Digital Future Through Education

For the successful transition to a full digital economy, there need to be changes in the way young people are educated and prepared for the challenges of a rapidly changing working environment. dotmagazine talked to Alexander Rabe, Managing Director of the eco Association, about how education needs to be transformed.

Digital Education

The Cloud as Foundation for Digital Education

How cloud platforms and services can support the implementation of digital curricula in schools, and why this is needed for a country to remain competitive in the future. Andreas Weiss from EuroCloud explains.

Digital Education

Bringing Education and Work into the 21st Century

How education and employment policies need to be updated for a digital society. Lucia Falkenberg, CPO of the eco Association, explores the needs from a German perspective.

2018 Outlook

Digital Infrastructure – The Unsung Hero

Digital infrastructure, like data centers, networks, and the domain name system, is the unseen enabler of modern digital life and business. A look at how the eco Association is working to raise digital infrastructure to center stage in 2018.

Feature Digital Education

Some Examples of How ICT Can Help Us Solve Our Global Issues

The United Nations has defined 17 “Sustainable Development Goals”, SDGs. They range from ending poverty to solving our energy issues to ensuring that education is available for all. Technology can help us reach some of these goals. Here is how.

Feature 2018 Outlook

The Internet Industry in the Wake of the GDPR

How will the forthcoming GDPR affect the different areas of the Internet industry and digital business? dotmagazine takes a brief look at how different segments of the Internet industry will be affected, and how the eco Association is working to support members as we near the end of the implementation period.

Recruitment

How Recruitment Automation Can Boost Your HR Performance

How can you run an HR marketing campaign that is tailor-made to your needs as a recruiter? According to Jan Kirchner of Wollmilchsau, the secret lies in automating processes and combining these with Artificial Intelligence. Together, these two factors lead to considerable time savings and optimized outcomes.

Feature Recruitment

Workforce Diversity Driving Company Performance, Innovation, and Profitability

What is the economic value of gender and racial diversity in tech companies? Elisabeth Kurek, Leader of the Gender Diversity & Equity Initiative in the i2Coalition, provides important insights for companies and HR managers into how diversity and a welcoming company climate can attract and retain top talent and increase performance.

Feature Unified Communications

Bricks, Bytes, & Behavior: The Space, Tools, and Culture of New Work

How people, technology, and space interact to create a productive workforce – Detlev Artelt from aixvox offers advice to companies for the successful transition to new modes of working and managing.

Recruitment

Attracting and Keeping Great Talent in an Employee’s Market

The War for Talents is being felt keenly in the IT sector and in IT-related jobs, certainly in Germany. Peer Bieber from Arbeitgebergold offers companies advice on navigating the route to finding and keeping top employees.

Unified Communications

The Rise of Cloud-Based Unified Communications & Collaboration

There’s no doubt that the concept of cloud is becoming more popular with businesses large and small, but there is still a huge amount of misinformation about the different types of cloud and their compatibility for individual organizations. So what exactly are the options when it comes to cloud-based UC and how do you know what’s right for different customers?

Feature Company Security

Why IT Security is Like Shopping for Christmas

There are three striking similarities between IT security and shopping for Christmas. Most of us have too much stuff to begin with. Also, there is too much theatre involved. And finally, socks. You can enjoy a holiday season without worries if you keep these things in mind.

Feature Data Center

Finding Specialist Staff to Power Data Center Growth

Demand is growing worldwide so fast that data centers can’t be built and staffed fast enough. Dr. Béla Waldhauser from KDDI Deutschland explains the challenges and provides a perspective for the future of data center operations.

Email Best Practices

The Consent Given on Occasion of the Sending of Email Advertising Expires in the Course of Time

Media law expert Florian Daniel from DWF Germany looks at how the context of consent for advertising emails can lose relevancy and validity over time.

Feature Risk Assessment

Understanding and Mitigating Risks to Data Center Operation

Given the strategic value of data centers to digital transformation, it is important for data center operators to have a very clear view of the risks they face – ranging from DDoS to the GDPR – according to Gerd Simon, Independent Consultant and Lead Auditor for the eco Datacenter Star Audit.