Sarah Box
Visiting fellow
sarah box
HIGHLIGHTS
2022-2024: Principal Policy Advisor, Digital Futures, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
2016-2022: Senior Counsellor / Counsellor, Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation, OECD
2015-2016: Senior Economist, Digital Policy, OECD
Sarah Box is a Visiting Fellow at ORF America. She is the 2024 New Zealand Harkness Fellow. With the support of this award and with hosting from ORF America, she is spending three months in the United States researching a project on AI Governance – Exploring strategic alignment for a small country.
In New Zealand, Ms. Box is a Principal Policy Advisor in the Digital Futures Policy team at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. In this role she has been leading work on New Zealand’s policy and regulatory settings for artificial intelligence and providing advice to the Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology to develop a strategic approach to AI in New Zealand. She also supports advice on the impacts of digital technology on the New Zealand economy and on the potential of the digital technology sector to contribute to New Zealand’s innovation and productivity.
Prior to joining the Ministry, Ms. Box held various positions in the OECD’s Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation in Paris, France. As Senior Counsellor, she formed part of the senior management team developing and overseeing the Directorate’s strategic direction, coordinated, and tracked critical work streams such as AI and technology governance, and advised on deliverables for the G20 and G7 digital streams. She also played a key role in establishing the OECD’s hosting of the Global Partnership on AI secretariat. Earlier in her career, Ms. Box worked at the Australian Productivity Commission and the New Zealand Treasury.
Ms. Box holds an M. Commerce and a B. Commerce (Hons) in Economics from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.