Prior to joining UNU-MERIT, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) where his principal objective was making innovation part of the development agenda.

Until April 2008 he was the Director of the Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division at Statistics Canada and was responsible for the development of statistics on all aspects of research, development, invention, innovation and the diffusion of technologies, as well as on related human resources and also responsible for the development of statistics on telecommunications and broadcasting, Internet use, and electronic commerce.  He is a former Chair of the OECD Working Party of National Experts on Science and Technology Indicators (NESTI) (2002 – 2008) and of the Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society (WPIIS) (1997 – 2002).  Previously, at Statistics Canada, he was responsible for the development of statistics on business and personal service industries.

Before joining Statistics Canada, he was Senior Lecturer in Theoretical Physics at the University of Durham in the U.K. He holds a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics and a B.Sc.(Econ.) from the University of London, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Member of the British Computer Society. Recent publications include National Innovation, Indicators and Policy (Edward Elgar 2006), co-edited, with Louise Earl, and Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators in a Changing World: Responding to Policy Needs (OECD 2007), co-edited with Anthony Arundel and Alessandra Colecchia. His next book, Innovation Strategies for a Global Economy, Development, Implementation, Measurement and Management, will be published by Edward Elgar in July 2010.