He is active in considering novel ways to achieve higher impact from the UK's research and development programmes and he has written recently on the intrinsic lack of risk-taking within public R&D funding, due to wrong-framing of proposed projects (as individual bets, all judged absolutely and seeking success, rather than as a portfolio of investments of very distinct types and distinct levels of risks and possible returns); and the dead hand of consensual peer-review processes, which results in only rather safe-science (de-risked) being funded and avoids any investments where there is controversy or a lack of a reviewer consensus (which could indicate disruptive opportunities outside of the present paradigm).
In 1989 he joined a commercial consulting company working in the environmental sciences, building up a mathematical modelling group on multidisciplinary projects in the UK, Europe, US and Japan.
His research ranged from the application of fractals to simulating subsurface environments (micro medium structure controlling channelling flow and dispersion phenomena at the macroscopic scale), and non-linear multiphase (solutes, gases, and especially colloidal) dispersion processes, fully coupled chemical-temperature–hydration systems, through to the development of frameworks for estimating uncertainties within risk assessments, and the analysis of public risk perception.
He has developed models and methods for analyzing large networks (range dependent random graphs) occurring within the biosciences, such as in genome, proteome and metabolome interactions.
In 1998 he was co-founder and Technical Director of a start–up company, Numbercraft Limited, supplying services and software to retailers and consumer goods manufacturers.
Cignifi operates within a number of counties, in partnerships with MNOs wishing to extend mobile bang to include loans, insurance es and other financial products.