Retired Chairman and co-CEO, Research In Motion (BlackBerry)
Jim Balsillie is the retired Chairman and co-CEO of Research In Motion (BlackBerry), a technology company he scaled from an idea to $20 billion in sales globally. Mr. Balsillie’s private investment office includes significant positions in Canadian and global technology companies.
He is the co-founder of the Institute for New Economic Thinking in New York, the Council of Canadian Innovators based in Toronto, and the Digital Governance Council in Ottawa, as well as founder of the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, the Centre for Digital Rights, the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and the Arctic Research Foundation. He currently chairs the boards of CCI, CIGI, Innovation Asset Collective and Digital Governance Council. He is also a member of the Board of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Advisory Board of the Canada School of Public Service; and an Honorary Captain (Navy) of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Mr. Balsillie was the private sector representative on the UN Secretary General’s High Panel for Sustainability and testified to US Congress about Intellectual Property reform. Mr. Balsillie served on the Digital Advisory Committee in European Union and speaks frequently to policymakers about the digital economy including at the International Monetary Fund, International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy and Democracy, EU think tanks and Parliaments.
His awards include: several honorary degrees, Mobile World Congress Lifetime Achievement Award, India’s Priyadarshni Academy Global Award, Canadian Business Hall of Fame, Time Magazine’s World’s 100 Most Influential People and three times Barron’s list of “World’s Top CEOs.
Participating in: Fireside chat with Shoshana Zuboff and Jim Balsillie