Speakers

Dr. Grace S. Thomson is a distinguished Policy Advisor and Strategist with international experience across the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and the USA,  specializing in the design of inclusive, human-centered policy frameworks for public innovation. Based in the UAE for the past 15 years, Dr Thomson has spearheaded triple-helix initiatives with government, academia, and the corporate sector, focusing on how emerging technologies can strengthen economic development across the Gulf Region. 

She serves as the Director of the AI Policy Clinics at the Center for AI & Digital Policy (CAIDP), a Think Tank based in Washington, DC, and Assistant Editor of the CAIDP Index, a global benchmark assessment of national AI policies across 80 countries. Her work bridges policy, public innovation, and governance, helping governments and institutions navigate the risks and opportunities of AI to ensure fundamental rights remain pillars of sustainable growth. 

As a USAID Andean Peace Scholar at Iowa State University and a DSE Scholar in Germany, Dr. Thomson specialized in agricultural market structures, rural loan allocation, and the optimization of food commodity exports. She advises on GovTech, climate change, and economic reactivation projects as a Mentor for the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) and Universidad Complutense de Madrid.