The future of DPOs

The role of the Data Protection Officer has greatly evolved since the nomination of the first DPO in the Land of Hesse, Germany in 1971. Originally designed to protect citizens privacy against too much scrutiny from the state, it shall now protect people from the invasive curiosity of private companies, large and small, as well as from increasingly active criminal organizations. New EU regulations aim at controlling large internet actors with the Digital Services Act and the Data Marketing Act, promote digital innovation in Europe with the Data Act, the Data Governance Act and several European Data Spaces, as well as building a framework for Artificial Intelligence. In this context how is the DPO role going to evolve?