BlackBerry gets industry veterans on board

Canadian handset maker BlackBerry has appointed two industry veterans to its board of directors. Richard “Dick” Lynch, retired executive VP of US operator Verizon, and Bert Nordberg, former CEO at Sony Ericsson, join the firm as it looks to reverse its decline, with all bets on the newly launched BlackBerry 10 platform.

Lynch is currently president of FB Associates; a consultancy firm that focuses on technology, marketing, and business operations. A Fellow of The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), he has also sat on the boards of organisations including the GSM Association (GSMA) and the CDMA Development Group (CDG).

Nordberg was chairman of Sony Mobile from May to December 2012 and president and CEO of Sony Ericsson from October 2009 until May 2012. He is also currently the chairman at Vestas Wind Systems in Denmark and director on the Board of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget in Sweden, and serves as director on the board of Kcell Joint Stock Company in Kazakhstan.

“We are very pleased to add the talent and industry knowledge of these two respected executives to our board,” said BlackBerry Board chair Barbara Stymiest. “We are looking forward to their contributions as we continue to drive for long-term shareholder value and seek opportunities to leverage the extraordinary BlackBerry 10 platform launched last week.”