Charmaine Distor is a Research Consultant at the United Nations University (UNU-EGOV) since 2024. Prior to this, she was a Junior Research Assistant from August 2022 to September 2024.
She is also currently a doctoral student and researcher at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland conducting her PhD studies on artificial intelligence in public sector organizations. She also holds a degree of Global Master of e-Government and Public Management from Yonsei University in the Republic of Korea under the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) scholarship as well as a Bachelor of Science in Development Communication from the University of the Philippines.
Prior to working in UNU-EGOV, she worked as a Section Chief and Project Development Officer at the Department of Information and Communications Technology – Philippines which oversees programs aiming to develop the Philippine ICT industry ecosystem. She also worked at the Municipal Government of Carmona, Cavite in the Philippines as the Officer-in-Charge managing its Municipal Information, Tourism, Culture and Arts Office.
Besides her experience in public service in the national and local government agencies, she is also one of the co-founders of AI4GOV, a social tech startup dedicated to improve public services and promote citizen participation through automation, data science, and community organizing. Her research interests include e-government, emerging technologies, local governance, and public administration.