Selected Events (Past and Upcoming)

August 28, 2008

August 23, 2008

August 18-19, 2008

July 28, 2008

July 1-2, 2008

(Yaounde, Cameroon) - Dr. Varghese will present on alternative data in the United States and lessons for microlending at a technology forum sponsored by CGAP and CAPAF in Yaounde, Cameroon. The symposium brings together financial service providers and microlending institution across Africa in a 2 day event that focuses on new approaches to expanding financial access on the continent.

June 16-18, 2008

(Denver, CO) - National Energy And Utility Affordability Conference: Mile High Solutions. Patrick Walker discusses the use and benefits to low-income consumers from the reporting of utility payment data to credit bureaus.

June 16, 2008

(Colombo, Sri Lanka) - Dr. Turner will deliver the keynote presentation to senior executives from the financial services, telecommunications, energy utility, and insurance industries. The focus of his presentation will be upon how fully reporting non-financial payment data to CRIB can dramatically broaden and deepen credit access in Sri Lanka.

June 12, 2008

(Cleveland, OH) - Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's 2008 Community Development Policy Summit. Patrick Walker presented on the value to adding more types of payment infomration to consumer credit files.

June 4, 2008

(Santiago, Chile) - At the 3rd National Credit and Collection Congress, Dr. Turner presented on the benefits of comprehensive credit assessment and new approaches to lending. Dr. Turner's presentation is here.

March 12-13, 2008

(Washington, DC) - PERC and the Center for Financial Services Innovation will co-host two free symposia on the policy aspects of full-file customer payment reporting by energy utility and telecommunications firms to national credit bureaus. For information on how to attend, please contact Adam Rodman.

March 11, 2008

(New Orleans, LA) - Patrick Walker and Marcia Sergent patricipated in the Louisiana Recovery Authority's Housing Information Summit at the University of New Orleans

March 7-8, 2008

(Beijing, China) - PERC, along with the Peking University-ACOM Financial Information Research Center (PAFIRC) in Beijing, China, is hosting a two-day conference of presentations by internationally-renowned scholars and industry experts in the field of personal credit reporting. A call for papers has been issued for publication in Financial Times. To see the event announcement, click here.

January 27-31, 2008

(South Africa) - The Center for Financial Services Innovation hosted the South Africa Innovation Exchange. Dr. Varghese participated in the 5 day event that examined new strategies for providing financial services to the underserved in South Africa to see what lessons these experiments and new approaches offer the United States.

January 23, 2008

(Scottsdale, AZ) PERC Fellow Patrick Walker presented and moderated a panel on alternative data at the Consumer Data Industry Association's annual conference.

December 14, 2007

(Washington, DC) - Dr. Robin Varghese presented at the Federal Reserve Board's Credit Scoring Forum in Washington, DC.

December 5-7, 2007

(Chicago, IL) - Dr. Michael Turner will be moderating a panel on the use of non-traditional data in credit files at the National Training and Information Center's Housing and Banking Summit.

October 18-19

(Washington, DC) - Dr. Turner will be at the Brookings Institution UMI to give a presentation on the use of alternative data in credit files.

October 16

(Philadelphia, PA) - Patrick Walker will moderate a panel on alternative credit data at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's conference, "Innovative Financial Tools for Serving the Underserved."

October 15-16

(Sonoma, CA) - At InfoCentricity's third annual Xeno Users' Exchange, Dr. Turner will give a presentation on alternative data.

October 8-12, 2007

(Sao Paulo, Brazil) - Dr. Turner and Dr. Robin Varghese will present PERC's new study on Brazilian credit reporting to regulators, government officials, academics, and the media in Brasilia and São Paulo.

October 8-9, 2007

(Chapel Hill, North Carolina) - The UNC's Center for Community Capitalism statewide conference on Asset Building and Financial Literacy. Patrick Walker will discuss the potential benefits of adding alternative payment data to consumer credit files.

September 28, 2007

(New Orleans, Louisiana) - As the keynote speaker at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's quarterly luncheon, Dr. Michael Turner will discuss specific demographic findings in the PERC report Recovery, Renewal, and Resiliency: Gulf Coast Small Businesses Two Years Later.

September 18-19, 2007

(Washington, DC) - At the World Bank offices, a two day conference-"Gaining scale in microfinance"-held by WB/ IFC/ CGAP and VISA, will will focus on microfinance, credit reporting and the use of new technologies to improve the microfinance industry. PERC president, Dr. Michael Turner, will overview PERC's research into the areas of credit reporting and the use of technologies, such as credit scoring, for the purposes of increasing access to credit.

August 29, 2007

(New Orleans, Louisiana) - At the Pan American Life Insurance Building in New Orleans, Dr. Michael Turner will release the preliminary findings of a PERC phone survey of small business owners in the Katrina recovery areas as part of an ongoing, two-year long project designed to quantify the economic well-being of Gulf Coast residents, communities, and small businesses.

July 11-13, 2007

(Chicago) - Risk Management Association. At the Retail Risk Conference Dr. Turner will topline key findings from PERC's alternative data work and broadly discuss ways financial companies can expand into untapped markets.

August 15, 2007

(New Orleans, Louisiana) - At the Fair Isaac Small Business and Consumer Lending Conference, Dr. Turner will discuss issues relating to small business credit access.

July 11-13, 2007

(Chicago) - Risk Management Association. At the Retail Risk Conference Dr. Turner will topline key findings from PERC's alternative data work and broadly discuss ways financial companies can expand into untapped markets.

June 10-12, 2007

(Dallas) - Center for Financial Services Innovation. At the 2nd Annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum Dr. Turner will present results from the landmark PERC/Brookings UMI study "Give Credit Where Credit is Due" and preview findings from their ongoing work on the topic of alternative data and alternative scoring.

June 6, 2007

(Washington, DC) - American Bankers Association. Dr. Turner will present evidence on the use of alternative data in commercial credit reports as a means to promote entrepreneurialism and to capitalize small businesses in urban and other underserved markets.

May 27-29, 2007

(Gravenhurst, Canada) - Credit Scoring and Risk Strategy Association (CSRSA). Dr. Turner will topline key results from PERC's work exploring how traditional and alternative data can improve credit scoring and risk mitigation leading to increased and more equitable access to credit and financial services.

May 16-17, 2007

(Portland, Oregon) - National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). At NAREB's 60th Spring Conference, which will address issues of sub-prime lending and predatory lending, Patrick Walker will overview findings by PERC on effective ways to increase access to affordable mainstream lending (particularly by those currently underserved) by utilizing non-traditional consumer payment information.

May 15-18, 2007

(San Francisco) - Fair Isaac's InterACT conference. At the conference where thought leaders gather to discuss new solutions for enterprise decision management, Dr. Turner will disscuss some of PERC's on-going and completed research.

May 2, 2007

(New York) - Coalition for Healthcare Communication. Dr. Turner will discuss findings from PERC's recent publication The Impact of Provider-Identifiable Data on Healthcare Quality and Cost.

April 24, 2007

(Washington, DC) - International Financial Corporation (World Bank). Michael Turner and Patrick Walker will participate in a brown bag lunch, the topic of which will be centered on PERC's report "Give Credit Where Credit is Due".

March 22, 2007

(Washington, DC) - Symposium on Automating Alternative Credit. At this Brookings event Dr. Turner will discuss the use and potential of alternative data for underwriting home mortgage loans. See the event agenda here

March 7, 2007

(Chicago) - Center for Financial Services Innovation. Dr. Turner will present key findings from recent joint-study from PERC/Brookings UMI on alternative data and consumer credit reporting.

February 28, 2007

(Chicago) - TransUnion Management Meeting. Dr. Turner will topline findings from recent PERC studies at the premier TransUnion management event.

February 23, 2007

(Washington, DC) - PERC president, Dr. Michael Turner, presents findings and highlights ways underserved groups can have improved access to the financial mainstream at the National Black Caucus of States Institute's National Symposium on Financial Literacy. See the event agenda here and Dr. Turner's presentation here . For more information about NBCSI visit the NBCSI website.

January 9, 2007

(Washington, DC) - PERC and the Brookings Institution release a study that examines the impact on access to credit among different groups from adding alternaive payment data to credit reports. The event will be held at the Brookings Institution. See the transcript of the event here, the full report here, and the executive summary here. For more information about the Urban Markets Initiative visit the UMI website here.

December 8, 2006

(Singapore) - Dr. Turner addresses regional and national credit reporting issues at the American Chamber of Commerce Singapore.

December 6, 2006

(Tokyo, Japan) - PERC president Michael Turner presents key findings from PERC's new study on Japanese credit reporting at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. The event agenda can be found here.

October 10-11, 2006

(Indianapolis, IN) - At a risk management meeting of the American Gas Association, PERC Fellow Patrick Walker will discuss how reporting customer data to consumer reporting agencies can help utility companies reduce arrearages while assisting lower income customers build a positive credit history.

October 8-11, 2006

(Scotsdale, AZ) - At an Experian event, Vision 2006 Conference, Dr. Edward Roche will discuss recent trends in data collection, with an emphasis on how the widespread reporting of nonfinancial data to consumer reporting agencies can lead to a win-win-win scenario for data furnishers, creditors, and borrowers--particularly thin-file and unscoreable borrowers.

October 8-10, 2006

(Capetown, South Africa) - At the World Consumer Credit Reporting Conference PERC President Dr. Michael Turner will topline key findings from recent studies on credit reporting in Latin America, Japan and the use of non-financial data in the U.S. and elsewhere.

September 20, 2006

(Phoenix, AZ) - PERC President Michael Turner will speak on the benefits of including alternative data in consumer and commerical credit reports at the annual conference for the Center for Financial Services Innovation.

September 7, 2006

(Washington, DC) - PERC and the Brookings Institution outline a project to study and monitor the credit and insurance consequences of catastrophes for individuals, businesses, and communities. For additional information see the event announcement here or the media alert here.

June 19, 2006

(Beijing) - PERC President Michael Turner addresses senior Chinese government officials, academics and leaders of the business community at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. A copy of his presentation is available here.

May 8-12, 2006

(Tegulcigalpa, Honduras and Guatemala City, Guatemala) - PERC President Michael Turner and Senior Fellow Robin Varghese present findings from a new study on consumer credit reporting in Latin America. In addition to briefing senior banking executives, central bank staff, and other creditors, Turner briefed television, radio, and print media reporters.

April 5, 2006

(Oxford, Mississippi) - Edward M. Roche, PERC's Director of Scientific Intelligence, presented a paper to the National Association of Attorney's General meeting on April 5th, 2006. Entitled: "Economic and Other Harms to Organizational Entities", the paper explored the cost of Internet and computer-related crimes. A copy of the paper is available here.

March 9, 2006

(Washington, DC) - The Information Policy Institute and Brookings Urban Markets Initiative cosponsored a roundtable discussion titled "Improving access to capital for urban small businesses" in which a group of issue area experts were assembled to delve into a number of key issues related to urban small business access to capital. See the agenda for the roundtable here.

February 17, 2006

Dr. Michael Turner will be a panelist at the Urban Markets Initiative's Inaugural Forum on a panel entitled "Urban Information Gap: Analytical Issues." For more information on the Urban Markets Initiative see http://www.brookings.edu/metro/umi.htm.

January 25, 2006

Dr. Turner will speak on the "Predictive Attributes of Alternative Data" at the Annual Conference of the Consumer Data Industry Association.

December 15, 2005

Institute President Michael Turner was joined on a panel about alternative credit scoring by Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Pari Sabety, Executive Director of the Urban Markets Initiative. The event was co-hosted by PAID and the Brookings Institution.

November 1-3, 2005

Dr. Edward Roche of the Information Policy Institute will be the keynote speaker on an event devoted to Computer-facilitated Identity Theft training. The event is sponsored by the National Association of Attorneys Geneneral and the National Center for Justice and the Rule of Law. It will be held at the University of Mississippi Law School.

October 19, 2005

Dr. Turner will be a featured speaker on a panel to be held at the Marriot Marquis New York and sponsored by the SAS corporation. The topic is "Credit Scoring Vulnerability to Fair Lending Risk." His fellow panelists will include Glenn Canner of the Federal Reserve, Don McCree of JP Morgan, Jim Howden of HSBC, David Munio of Wells Fargo, and David Gaines of Wachovia.

October 5-9, 2005

The Debt Debate - credit limits, default rates & government legislation

As credit levels continue to grow there is increasing concern about the sustainability of Australian household debt. Yet the ability of lenders to make informed credit decisions is hampered by a legislative regime that keeps them in the dark. Dr Michael Turner, an international expert on data and privacy from the Information Policy Institute in the United States, presents research showing the link between the quality of information available to lenders and default rates.

Dr. Turner will present his research in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Auckland

Click here to see Dr. Turner on TVNZ, New Zealand.

September 16, 2005

Dr. Turner will deliver the keynote address at Banking on the Future Summit to be held in Trinidad and Tobago. (click here for more)

September 12, 2005

Institute President, Dr. Michael Turner will participate in a panel discussion of issues related to Latino credit access hosted by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Representative Loretta Sanchez will moderate.

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and panelists: Leonardo Simpser, Monica Gonzales, Gary Acosta, and Dr. Michael Turner (from left to right)

July 20, 2005

Washington D.C. - The Institute hosts a panel discussion at the National Press Club to discuss the findings of a new Institute study, Giving Underserved Consumers Better Access to the Credit System: The Promise of Non-Traditional Data. Panelists: Michael A. Turner, President and Senior Scholar of the Information Policy Institute; Laura DeSoto, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Experian Credit Information Solutions; Sherrie L.W. Rhine, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Jennifer Tescher, Director at the Center for Financial Services Innovation, Pari Sabety, Director of the Urban Market Initiative at the Brookings Institution.

July 7, 2005

Dr. Turner moderates "Identity Theft: A Ticking Time Bomb," a panel at the Fifth Annual Information Privacy Forum to be held July 7-10, 2005 at the St. Regis Hotel, Aspen, Colorado. The panel included Institute Advisory Board member Howard Beales, Jim Harper of the CATO Institute, and Evan Hendricks of Privacy Times.

Dr. Turner and his wife Harshi share a few minutes with former President Bill Clinton.

May 12, 2005

Dr. Turner spoke before Congress at a Financial Institutions Subcommittee Hearing on entitled, "Helping Consumers Obtain the Credit They Deserve." His written testimony is available here. Additional information on the hearing is available here.

December 8, 2004

Dr. Michael Turner speaks about the U.S. credit reporting system at the U.S.-Japan Financial Technology Sector at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

September 26-28, 2004

Dr. Michael Turner delivered a presentation on full-file credit reporting systems at an international credit reporting conference, the 4th Consumer Credit Reporting World Conference in Beijing. A copy of his presentation is available here.

May 1, 2004

The Information Policy Institute is scheduled to host worldwide sourcing panel at the American Legislative Exchange Council's Spring Taskforce Summit. Noted academics such as Professor Martin Kenney, Senior Project Director Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, and Professor Ashish Arora (unconfirmed), Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.

March 1, 2004

Dr. Michael Turner speaks to members of the New Jersey State Commerce Committee to discuss the impact of proposed financial services "opt-in" legislation. Download Dr. Turner's presentation here.

February 24, 2004

Dr. Michael A. Turner, President and Senior Scholar of the Information Policy Institute, discusses offshoring at the Axciom Executive Symposium in Orlando, Florida during panel, "Privacy and Security -- Managing Preferences, Permissions and Valued Relationships." Download Dr. Turner's presentation here. Other presenters included Timothy J. Muris, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission.

February 9, 2004

Dr. Michael A. Turner, President and Senior Scholar of the Information Policy Institute, discusses preemption in the context of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003 in Washington, D.C. The event was sponsored by Privacy and American Business. Download Dr. Turner's presentation here.

January 14, 2004

On January 14th, Turner addressed a gathering of senior IT executives from firms in Northern Virginia’s “Digital Dominion” to discuss worldwide sourcing. The event was hosted by the Society for Information Management. Download Dr. Turner's presentation here.

December 11, 2003

On December 11, 2004, the Information Policy Institute hosted a symposium titled Offshoring and Outsourcing: What's In America's Best Interest? By all accounts, the event was an overwhelming success. Over 85 attendees from over 60 different organizations watched as representatives of labor, industry, government, and academia discussed this hotly contested phenomenon. Click here for more on the event.

September 24, 2003

Dr. Michael A. Turner, President and Senior Scholar of the Information Policy Institute to participate in panel hosted by the Congressional Economic Leadership Initiative. Appearing with Dr. Turner, Chariman Timothy Muris and Director Howard Beales of the FTC. Also slated to participate, Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director of U.S. PIRG. The panel will be moderated by David Klaus, Executive Director of CELI.

June 18, 2003

Institute participates in FTC Workshop, "Information Flows: The Costs and Benefits to Consumers and Businesses of the Collection and Use of Consumer Information." FCRA Study methodology discussed at event.

June 17, 2003

Fair Credit Reporting Act Report Released by the Information Policy Institute entitled, "The Fair Credit Reporting Act - Access, Efficiency, and Opportunity." Present findings to Key Policymakers and Business Leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

June 9, 2003

Information Policy Institute's interactive dataflow software focus of Financial Services Roundtable "Lunch and Learn" for staffers and policy makers. Rayburn House Office Building.

May 8, 2003

Institute President and Senior Scholar, Dr. Michael A. Turner testifies at House of Representatives Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. Hearing entitled “The Importance of the National Credit Reporting System to Consumers and the U.S. Economy”

March 11, 2003

Information Policy Institute co-hosts conference with Columbia Business School, "Media Concentration and Local Markets" at National Press Club. Participants included speakers from Consumer's Union, Consumer Federation of America, as well as academics and business leaders.

March 6, 2003

Information Policy Institute President and Senior Scholar speaks at 4A's Media Conference in New Orleans. Dr. Turner discusses media concentration with Dr. Robert Pepper, Chief, Office of Plans and Policy for the Federal Communications Commission, at panel exploring "The Media Landscape Through Washington Lenses."

January 16, 2003

Institute comments to FCC on Consolidation receive wide press coverage. See "In the Press." Recent articles in USA Today, the Boston Herald, and Ad Age discuss Institute comments.

January 2, 2003

Information Policy Institute Cautions FCC on Consolidation: Rules Change May Harm Consumers, Competition, and Could Create "Information Divide". Download full comments to FCC here. Download Press Release here.

December 17, 2002

Information Policy Institute Working With Consumer Groups, Minority Owned Media Companies and 4As. Will Comment on FCC’s Media Ownership Proceeding. Increasing Media Concentration Not In Public Interest says Information Policy Institute

March 19, 2002

The Information Policy Institute launch meeting in Washington, D.C.