Christopher Schläffer

Christopher Schlaeffer (born August 23, 1969) is a European technology executive and entrepreneur. He is the Chief Digital Officer as well as member of the Global Executive Committee of VimpelCom (NASDAQ: VIP) and founder of yetu and NYOUM.^[1]

Early Life & Education

Christopher Schlaeffer was born on August 23, 1969 and raised by his mother together with 2 brothers and one sister in Maishofen, Austria. He graduated from Vienna University of Economics in 1993, with a thesis on ecological tax reform.

Professional career

Schlaeffer started his business career with Accenture, the international consulting, technology and outsourcing company.

In 1998 he joined Deutsche Telekom, one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies. In 2000 he became Chief Strategy Officer to play a key role in Deutsche Telekom's transformation.^[2] In 2002 his responsibilities were extended to also include Research and Development, Technology (CTO) and IT (CIO) for the group.

In 2006, Christopher Schlaeffer became Deutsche Telekom's Chief Product & Innovation Officer and thus in charge of the global product portfolio.^[3] In this role he was a member of the group's Executive Operating Board and responsible for strategic partnerships with for example Apple, Samsung and Google.^[4] On September 23, 2008 together with Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Andy Rubin, Peter Chou and Cole Brodman he unveiled the world's first mobile phone based on Android, T-Mobile G1.^[5][6]

In 2010, Schlaeffer left Deutsche Telekom to become an entrepreneur and founded yetu. After 4 years of development at IFA Consumer Electronics Show 2014 in Berlin yetu launched the world´s first open connected home platform for web applications usable across devices and operating systems.^[7] In 2015 Schlaeffer had to wind down^[8] yetu due to a failed funding round, but utilized the open source technology to found NYOUM,^[9] a multi-service delivery platform for the connected home.

2016 VimpelCom (NASDAQ: VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications services serving over 217 million customers across 14 countries, appointed Christopher Schläffer as Chief Digital Officer and member of its Global Executive Committee tasked with the company´s transformation into an open digital model, leading the group´s commercial functions as well as building a new global Digital division in London.^[10][11][12]

Personal life

Christopher Schlaeffer is married and father of 2 daughters. He takes interest in public policy, promoting an “eco-social” market economy and the open information society.^[13][14]

He was a founding member of the International Beethoven Piano Competition.

Honors, Awards, Positions

In 2007, Christopher Schlaeffer was recognized as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. As founder of yetu, Christopher received the German Energy Efficiency Prize as well as the award „Landmark in the Land of Ideas“ dedicated to the digital revolution by the German Federal President in 2015.^[15] In 2016 Christopher was named one of the 100 Most Innovative Chief Digital Officers globally.^[16]

Works

• Applied Technology and Innovation Management, Arnold H., Erner M., Möckel P., Schläffer C, Springer, Berlin (2010), ISBN 978-3-540-88826-0
• Münchner Kreis: “Prospects and Opportunities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Media”, 2009.^[17]
• Umsetzung von offener Innovation durch industrielle Cluster und Public Private Partnerships, Bub U., Schläffer C., published in Beschleunigte Innovation mit regionalen und industrienahen Forschungsclustern IRB Verlag (2008), ISBN 978-3-8167-7459-4
• Convergent Media & Networks, Keynote Speech at the 12th German-Japanese Symposium, 2007 ^[18]

References