Klemens Polatschek, born in 1963, began honorary work in vacuum cleaner research at the age of eighteen. In 1987 he finished his course of study in computer science, and then jumped into a career in journalism: three years at the ORF-Hörfunk in Wien, and seven years as editor for Die Zeit in Hamburg. Since 1997 he has been planning and realising e-business projects, and now has his own advisory company, Collective Intelligence GmbH (in Berlin), which specialises in business processes, intranet and employee portals.