Bio
Lorrayne Porciuncula is the executive director of the Datasphere Initiative. For the last 15 years, her professional and academic experiences have been focused on issues around data, internet governance, infrastructure regulation, and communication policy. Prior to leading the Datasphere Initiative, she was the director of the Data Program at the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network (2020–2021), where the Datasphere Initiative was incubated. She worked at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2014–2020) as the strategic advisor and internet economist for the Digital Economy Policy Division, coordinating issues related to data governance, artificial intelligence and blockchain, and leading the production of several reports and country studies related to connectivity, infrastructure regulation, technology convergence and inclusion.
Lorrayne has acted as the OECD focal point and speaker at high-level international meetings and fora such as the Internet Governance Forum, the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (UN-BBCom), the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age. Prior to the OECD, Lorrayne worked as an economist at the International Telecommunication Union, in the Secretariat of the UN-BBCom (2012–2014).
Lorrayne is an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, conducting research on data for development. She holds a master’s degree in development economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland; an executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology; and a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Brasilia, Brazil. She speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish and French.