Chris Clark, chief executive, BT Ireland
9th March 2010
The Irish are intuitively entrepreneurial.
I think if you ask me what the one single most important element to the future economic growth of Ireland, based on a common view that a digital Ireland is the way forward, I believe the most critical plank is digital infrastructure and what is most critical is people and culture.
More than just skills base, it’s about the culture and mindset. I remain absolutely convinced that on the whole the Irish people are intuitively very entrepreneurial.
Having said that I think there are some very big issues that need to be addressed.
We must move away from victimizing entrepreneurs, we have to start celebrating failure because we know it drives success at times. As Craig Barrett said recently we have to deal with outmoded laws like, for example, if you fail you can’t direct a company for 12 years.
I think we also need to create tax incentives for people to take risks. In reality the banks have challenges and won’t be lending to small businesses, it’s just not feasible. We need to make sure we are channelling funds and investment and not just expecting the banks to do it and we can all do our small part.
If there was a magic wand that I could wave it would be to start celebrating entrepreneurialism and encouraging young people, including those in the workplace, to be able to take brave steps and accept that failure will happen and try, try again, because that’s how success starts.
Chris Clark's biography
Since joining BT in 1991, Chris Clark has held a variety of roles in the company, both in the UK and internationally.
Prior to taking up his current role, Clark was director of business transformation for BT Retail, where he managed a radical two-year transformation programme.
Clark was previously CEO of Converged Mobility Operations, leading the commercial and operational performance across BT’s mobility division, and he was part of the Wireless Broadband Association (WBA), where he was involved in driving European membership and helping turn the WBA into a leading global Wi-Fi alliance.
From October 1999 to April 2004, Clark was president of BT Global Services’ Wholesale Business, a global business unit responsible for delivering in excess of €1.5 billion in revenues, with more than 350 people in 16 countries.
This business was created by the bringing together of BT’s former European joint ventures and Concert, BT’s international joint venture with AT&T. Clark led this business from its formation in April 2002 and prior to this he was CEO of Farland BV, BT’s pan European network company.
Clark was based in the US for a number of years, where several key business development roles culminated in his position as adviser to BT Worldwide’s president and CEO.
Clark sits on the board of Business in the Community in Northern Ireland.
