Chris Horn

I am electronics engineer. I graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1978, and subsequently completed my PhD by 1983. I then spent a year working as a civil servant in Brussels for the European Commission’s ESPRIT programme. Returning to Ireland, I was on the faculty of the Computer Science Department of Trinity College until 1991 when I co-founded and became CEO of IONA Technologies headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Starting with an initial investment of 1,250euro each, Sean Baker, Annrai O'Toole and I grew the company, without any venture capital but taking a minority investment from Sun Microsystems in Mountain View in 1993. We took the company public using Lehman in what was the 5th largest IPO in the history of Nasdaq in 1997. At one point during this period, the company was one of the largest top ten software companies by revenue in the world. I retired as CEO and Chairman in 2000, but returned as CEO from 2003 until 2005 to rebuild the company. The company was sold in September 2008, using Lehman: the deal was completed fortunately in the week just before Lehman imploded. I have served as chair of various technology companies and Irish national policy groups. I served for a time as a non executive director of both Chaco and Baltimore Technologies in the early 1980s, both of which were serving the Irish consultancy services market; and on the board of CR2 from 2001-03, an e-banking channels company. I served on the board of Sepro Telcom, with its rating technology, and including its exit to Opennet in 2003; and on the board of LeCayla, a SaaS billing services company for ISVs, including its 2008 exit to Opsource in Santa Clara. I have an interest in China and was the founding chair of the Ireland China Association and chair of China Crest, a Beijing based consultancy business. I am a former chair of UNICEF Ireland for seven years, including overseeing the retirement of Maura Quinn as Chief Executive and the appointment of Melanie Verwoerd; former chair of the Irish Brain Research Foundation for three years, including overseeing its merge into the Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience in 2005; former chair of the Irish Management Institute for six years, including overseeing the retirement of Barry Kenny, and the appointment of Tom McCarthy; former chair of the Community Foundation of Ireland; was chair of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce e-City working group; and founding chair of the Government's Expert Group on Futur