The annual World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS) represents the world's largest annual gathering of the ‘ICT for development’ community. The 2018 WSIS Forum is being held this week (March 19-23) in Geneva, Switzerland, at the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Centre International des Conférences Genève. Dr Derrick Cogburn, Faculty Co-Director of the Internet Governance Lab (IGL) and Executive Director of the IDPP, is attending the Forum as a speaker, where he will promote the IGL's mission of policy-engaged research on digital infrastructure and governance in support of a free and open Internet.

IDPP offers its heartfelt congratulations to Amb. Luis Gallegos, chair of the IDPP Joint Advisory Board, for his appointment as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the United Nations Office in Geneva by Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno. Amb. Gallegos has a long and distinguished career in diplomacy and advocating for disability rights and human rights, including his role as chair of the UN taskforce that negotiated the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

American University (AU) and Special Olympics have announced a new collaboration that will include research and educational initiatives focused on persons with intellectual disabilities, and that will provide substantial outreach opportunities for students and faculty. This unique collaboration coincides with the 50th anniversary year of Special Olympics and the unveiling of AU’s new strategic initiative on global disability and development, led by its Institute on Disability and Public Policy (IDPP). AU will host a signing ceremony to commemorate its partnership with Special Olympics and to inaugurate the new initiative on Tuesday, March 6, 2018, 1:00-2:00 p.m. at Palmer Kettler Lounge in the AU Sports Center. AU President Burwell, Special Olympics Chairman Shriver and Special Olympics D.C. athlete Novie Craven will commemorate the new agreement between the two institutions.

IDPP Executive Director Dr. Derrick Cogburn, who holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor in the School of International Service and Kogod School of Business, returned to his home state to speak on multistakeholder global governance and policy issues at the University of Oklahoma and University of Central Oklahoma on 13-14 November 2017.