Writing editorials is probably the most ungrateful task of an Editor-in-Chief. Would anyone miss the editorial when it’s absent? As it’s a rhetorical question, this edition will include an editorial.

We could have filled this entire edition with articles on recently enacted or upcoming EU legislation related to the digital economy. With over 100 candidates in areas such as online platforms, cyber security, intellectual property, privacy, crypto assets, etcetera, it will be challenging to be either comprehensive or original.¹ We have limited the focus on EU Acts to three articles:

• an opinion on the recently published assurance reports as mandated by the Digital Services Act (DSA);
• an elaboration of the relationship between EU’s AI Act and privacy compliance;
• an approach to establish a target operating model with data processes and technology for ESG reporting in order to fulfill the requirements of the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).

Two other articles address related aspects of the somewhat overhyped topic of AI, one on the digital society and the systemic risks of AI, another on how to combat radicalization by algorithms.

Furthermore, two interviews are included in this issue, with:

• Jules van Damme of Rabobank on Financial Economic Crime compliance;
• Jennifer Feuerstacke of VTTI on Digital Risk Assessments.

One of our editors, Albert Plugge, wrote an article with Shahrokh Nikou on the enabling role of digitalization for Global Business Services. As always, our editor Mark Scheurwater concludes this edition with his review of a relevant book, this time Sustainable IT Playbook for Technology Leaders.

You are invited to visit our website www.compact.nl for the full collection of articles, where you can also subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Although we do have several articles in the pipeline, any comments on current articles or your preferences for future subjects are welcome on info@compact.nl.

I hope this edition of Compact contains something to your liking and I wish you a healthy and safe 2025!