Daniela Benavente is an economist (PhD) consultant in the construction of composite indicators. In this domain, her collaborations include, among others, an auditing tool for the Joint Research Centre of the European Union, the European Skills Index (EU-CEDEFOP), the Food and Agriculture Vulnerability Index for FAO, Turkey's Competitiveness Index for the OECD, the SME Competitiveness Outlook for ITC, and the Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool for UN-IFAD. She started in this area as Lead Researcher of the Global Innovation Index back in 2010-2013 (with co-publishers INSEAD, WIPO and Cornell University), contributing to establish the index as a leading benchmarking tool for business executives and policymakers.

She holds a PhD in international economics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Master's degrees from Columbia University and Sciences-Po Paris, and a BA in economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.