Dr. Stephan Klein began his professional life in 1980 with an apprenticeship as a bank clerk at Nassauische Sparkasse Wiesbaden before studying business administration at the University of Trier and earning his doctorate in 1993 at the University of Osnabrück in the field of technology genesis research on the emergence of the electronic cash system of the German banking industry.

From 1994 to 1999 he gained experience in the field of smart cards and smart card applications at debis Systemhaus in Mülheim/Ruhr and as Managing Consultant at EUTELIS Consult Beratungsgesellschaft für Telekommunikation und Mehrwertdienste in Ratingen near Düsseldorf.

Since 1999, he has been managing director of Governikus in Bremen, which, since its beginnings as a pioneer of e-government in Germany, has developed into a leading provider of solutions for secure data transport, authentication, cryptography and long-term preservation of evidence. With Governikus, Governikus MultiMessenger, SAFE and DVDV, Governikus develops and maintains four applications of the IT planning council, which are used to solve the challenges regarding the protection of personal data in e-government.