Since Gerhard Thomas started at Hubert Burda Media as Managing Director of Burda Digital Systems in 2005 he has been responsible for information technology within the Burda Group and the establishment of new digital business areas. In 2008 he founded Valiton, a new-media full-service agency. Since 2010 he is also Managing Director of Burda Direkt Services, an expert for cross-media, performance-oriented services in e-commerce and customer management, implementing online shops and increasing digital revenues for its customers. Mr. Thomas had a career of 17 years as an IT consultant. In his early years he dealt with major implementation projects in the field of telecommunications. In his last position at Accenture, he was Managing Director within the communications market unit and developing market entry strategies. Together with Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Mohr he also published a book titled “Interactive Broadband Media”.