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As part of the 4th International Digital Security Forum (IDSF) 2025, a new Austrian initiative was presented to an international audience of experts, with the aim of supporting companies in complying with European legislation
Vienna - As part of this year's International Digital Security Forum (IDSF), the session "Responsible R&D by Balancing Innovation and Regulation", moderated by Christof Tschohl (Research Director, Research Institute) on the first day of the conference (June 4), discussed how technological developments in the digital space can be promoted and supported without neglecting regulatory requirements. Together with Sebastian Kneidinger (Policy Advisor, epicenter.works), Orion Forowycz (CTO Nexus Group AI), Sarah Kriesche (Journalist, ORF Radio - Ö1/FM4) and Madeleine Müller (Senior Researcher at Research Institute - Digital Human Rights Center), the challenge of reconciling European regulations and laws around aspects of cybersecurity with technological advances was discussed - the art of driving a secure digital transformation within the framework of European legislation while improving global competitiveness in the field of cybersecurity. In this context, the ATLAWS - Atlas for Tracking Law and Watching Standards project was presented.
ATLAWS is an open, wiki-based platform that structures, networks and presents European digital legislation in an understandable way. The aim is to integrate legal frameworks into innovation processes at an early stage and thus create the basis for secure, trustworthy digital solutions.
The discussion, which was shaped by representatives from civil society, academia and industry, clearly demonstrated that regulations can only facilitate innovation if they are comprehensible and accessible. ATLAWS plays a key role in this respect. The platform presents individual laws and highlights their interactions with key regulations, such as the GDPR and the AI Act. In this way, ATLAWS renders important regulations understandable and usable for start-ups, developers, researchers, and public stakeholders.
Designed as an open source tool under the Creative Commons license, ATLAWS helps to anchor European values such as transparency, the rule of law and digital sovereignty in practice - and thus underlines the central message of the IDSF discussion round on responsible research and development.
Especially in a rapidly changing digital environment, tools are needed that help to keep track of legal developments, make targeted use of funding programs and develop innovation potential with legal certainty. ATLAWS shows how this can be achieved - in a dialog between politics, research and practice.
Christof Tschohl, Research Director, Research Institute: “The aim of ATLAWS is to create an open, trustworthy, independent and clear basis for orientation in a complex digitalized world.”
Helmut Leopold, Head of Center for Digital Safety & Security, AIT:“Through the ATLAWS initiative, we are demonstrating that the EU can play a pioneering role in responsible digitalisation. The smart combination of technology and regulation is creating the foundation for global innovation.”
Further information: https://wiki.atlaws.eu