DAVID KAPLAN

David Kaplan is Professor Emeritus: Business Government Relations, Department of Economics, at University of Cape Town, South Africa.

He is an economist who has been at the University of Cape Town for more than 37 years. Prior to that he taught at the University of Massachusetts, United-States.

He has undertaken work for inter alia the World Bank; the African Development Bank; the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

He has held positions in government and a number of governmental agencies. Inter alia he was Chief economist of the Department of Trade and Industry (2000-2003). Chief Economist (part-time), Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Provincial Government of the Western Cape (2004-2011).

He served on the Presidential Commission to Investigate the Development of a Comprehensive Labour Market Policy and on the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) and has recently completed a four year term as a board member of the Technology Innovation Agency.

His primary research and engagement in policy are in the broad areas of innovation and technological change.