Biography
Mariagrazia Squicciarini is Chief of Executive Office at the Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). At UNESCO, Mariagrazia supports SHS’ Assistant Director General, helping the Sector deliver on its mandate, and acts as SHS’ focal point for the G7 and G20. She further leads research and policy-relevant work related to the ethics of science and new technologies – in particular, of Artificial Intelligence and neurotechnology-; youth policy; inclusion, antiracism and gender. In the past, she has led and contributed policy relevant analysis related to the changing determinants of growth and productivity; the economics of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR); knowledge-based capital; global value chains; the digital transformation and AI; job and skill dynamics; and the digital gender divide. Mariagrazia holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Essex (UK). Before joining UNESCO, Mariagrazia worked for more than ten years at the OECD Directorate for Science Technology and Innovation as Senior Economist – Head of Unit. Prior to joining the OECD, she had a number of appointments, including at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (FI), the University of Essex (UK) and the European Commission-Joint Research Centre (IPTS, ES). She has published extensively and has been acting as a reviewer for international peer-review journals and governments.