Chris Burke
EBlink board member Chris Burke’s career in telecommunications, IT and technology spans more than 30 years in both Europe and North America.
EBlink board member Chris Burke’s career in telecommunications, IT and technology spans more than 30 years in both Europe and North America. He has held technical and management responsibilities at a telecom equipment supplier (Nortel), a fixed-line carrier (Energis), a wireless service provider (Vodafone), and a consumer device manufacturer (Research In Motion – RIM). His most recent public-company position, which he left in 2009, was RIM’s managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. From 2001 to 2004, Chris was chief technology officer (CTO) at Vodafone UK. From 1997 to 2000, he was CTO and chief information officer at U.K.-based Energis, where he helped take the company public and onto the FTSE 40. Previously, he spent 15 years with Bell Northern Research and its parent company Northern Telecom in a variety of roles, including software development, operations and ultimately sales. Chris, who has extensive experience in helping guide companies through stock offerings and acquisitions, has served on several boards of directors. He was chairman of Ubiquity Software during that company’s initial public offering (IPO) in 2005 and its 2007 sale to Avaya. He was lead independent director of March Networks during its 2005 IPO, director at Oz Communications when it sold to Nokia in 2008, and a director and investor in Dialog Semiconductor when it completed a successful secondary offering in 2009. He currently serves on the boards of Dialog Semiconductor and Kontron (both listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange), as well as several venture and private equity-backed companies. Chris divides his time between board positions, numerous advisory roles and his investment and advisory business, Buster Burke Ltd. He holds a Bachelor of Computer Science degree from Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Can.