Public invited to vote in online competition for nonprofit founded by Penn State faculty members

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Arbitrator Intelligence, an international nonprofit organization with strong Penn State ties, has been selected as a semifinalist in a global competition designed to find the best legal innovations around the world. The public is invited to cast their vote online in the 2015 Innovating Justice Challenge to help make Arbitrator Intelligence one of the top three vote-getters, allowing the organization to move on to the next round in the competition sponsored by the Hague Institute for the Internationalization of Law (HiiL).

To cast a vote for Arbitrator Intelligence, visit bit.ly/arbintel. Registration is required to ensure that each person votes only once. Voting will end on Sept. 17.

Launched last year, Arbitrator Intelligence is an interactive online resource designed to improve access to information in international arbitration and promote transparency in the arbitrator selection process. The founding board of directors is headed by Penn State Law professor Catherine A. Rogers and includes Penn State professors Scott Sigmund Gartner, C. Lee Giles, and Christopher Zorn, along with Penn State Law alumnus and postgraduate fellow Alexander Wiker and University of Kansas School of Law professor Christopher R. Drahozal.

By promoting transparency and making sources of information about arbitrators more readily and equally available, Arbitrator Intelligence aims to increase arbitrator accountability, make the arbitrator selection process more fair and predictable, and create better opportunities for new and diverse arbitrators. In the longer term, Arbitrator Intelligence will collect quantitative feedback from parties and counsel about key features of arbitrator decision making. When fully developed, Arbitrator Intelligence will allow members to search accumulated information to aid in their arbitrator selection process.

HiiL’s Innovating Justice Challenge is an annual international competition that seeks to identify the most promising innovations in the rule of law. The competition received about 250 submissions and chose 60 to compete in the online voting round. The three organizations with the most votes, plus three wildcards selected by HiiL, will have a chance to represent their innovations at the Peace Palace in The Hague and present their projects to a global network of backers to accelerate the organization’s growth, including through direct financial support.

For more information on Arbitrator Intelligence, visit arbitratorintelligence.org.