The start of the war in Ukraine also had an impact on the Internet industry and shaped eco’s communication of industry issues in 2022. eco’s Internet Industry Monitor, presented by eco and Arthur D. Little in an online press conference, shed light on the possible effects on industry growth.

However, the analysts’ growth forecast for the Internet industry until 2025 remained basically stable and assumed an average annual growth of 12.2 per cent – this was the message that was picked up by many leading and trade media.

At the same time, the war exacerbated the already tense cyber threat situation, which the eco Communications team picked up on thematically. According to the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), cybersecurity in the form of ransomware attacks is becoming the greatest IT security threat.

In order to minimise the risk of a successful ransomware attack from the outset, the companies Sophos, Microsoft and Rohde & Schwarz joined forces to form the Ransomware Initiative under the umbrella of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. The eco Association communicated the founding of the initiative and gave tips on how companies can protect themselves against attacks. The communication concerning the publication of the IT Security Survey 2022 showed that companies are on the right track here.

As a second mega-trend, the approaching end of the Covid-19 pandemic shaped eco industry communications in 2022. The “New Normal”, involving the increased use of digital technologies to work from home or on the road, is expected to continue after the Covid-19 pandemic. The majority of employees plan to continue to make greater use of digital technologies to work, regardless of location. The figures published in a press release were jointly compiled by eco and Civey.

eco also provided communications support for the launch of the topDNS Initiative. The intention of the initiative is to have the Domain Name System (DNS) more effectively protected from abuse in the future. Leading companies in the industry have been supporters from the very beginning. They joined forces under the umbrella of the eco Association to form this initiative with the aim of increasing the security of the DNS. Their common goals include a stable and secure operation of the DNS, the promotion of existing activities to combat DNS abuse, and education about which measures are effective and appropriate.

With the topics of mobility and IoT, eco industry communications covered further trend topics. The participation of eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme in the Mobility Data Space was just as much a part of this as press releases on the use of shared mobility solutions. The future mobility ecosystem is based on digital platforms that offer users mobility as a service across all means of transport. This was the communicated vision that was also discussed by experts in webinars and events.

The growing shortage of skilled workers was also a concern for eco industry communications in 2022, as eco member companies are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit IT experts. A worldwide competition for the best talents is in full swing. In a press release, Lucia Falkenberg named seven checkpoints that companies can use to check whether they are well-positioned to recruit valuable specialists.

Communication around the 20th eco://awards characterised the early summer of 2022. Five innovative projects and one outstanding personality were honoured at the eco://award ceremony, and this was covered accordingly by the press.

In autumn, eco Association Communications invited journalists to a press roundtable on the publication of the Security & Digital Identities in a Digitalised World study. eco cooperated with leading media in advance in order to have the study results published.