It’s almost here. Privacy and security pros from across the globe are set to convene next week as the IAPP and CSA bring Privacy.Security.Risk. to Las Vegas, NV. If you haven’t registered yet, you can do that here. And if you’re wondering whether P.S.R. is the event for you, check out this recent feature on the event from The Privacy Advisor here.

In the meantime, though, read on for some big news from our Certification Department and some important dates to remember for the IAPP Europe Data Protection Intensive and the IAPP Global Privacy Summit.

DPI Call for Speakers

The call for speakers is now open for next spring’s IAPP Europe Data Protection Intensive, which will give you the chance to discover innovative solutions with practical education, networking opportunities and options for data protection training and certification. But, if you’re interested in sharing your data protection and privacy expertise as a presenter at the event, you only have until October 18 to let us know. Click here to submit a proposal.

Summit of the Future

While P.S.R. may be top-of-mind this week, it is not too early to be thinking about the world’s premiere privacy event: The IAPP Global Privacy Summit. In fact, we here at the IAPP are thinking so much about this not-to-be-missed event that we have the dates lined up for you—all the way through 2018, and all of them in DC's Washington Convention Center.

• Summit 2016

Training and Workshops: April 3 and 4

Main Conference: April 5 and 6

• Summit 2017

Training and Workshops: April 17 and 18

Main Conference: April 19 and 20

• Summit 2018

Training and Workshops: March 25 and 26

Main Conference: March 27 and 28

And sure, Summit 2016 is more than six months away, but we’re already reviewing the speaker proposals and gearing up for the return to the Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC.

Certification Spotlight

There’s some good news from our Certification Department, so if you hold a CIPP, CIPM or CIPT—or if you’re considering certification—here are the details:

Certification Director Doug Forman has announced upgrades to the IAPP’s certification process. The stated goal? “Enhance your privacy practice, plus make your life a lot easier.”

Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect:

• We’re switching from paper to digital certificates later this year. The benefits include the ability to easily share your certificate with employers, clients or contacts. And, the digital certificate can serve as a portfolio of all your IAPP and professional activities and accomplishments, giving you the opportunity to include presentations, publications and other information in the fields below the certificate.

• The Continuing Privacy Education (CPE) process has been simplified. Now, you only need to classify your CPE credits as either Group A for credential-specific content or as Group B for general privacy or professional development. The goal is to give privacy pros more latitude to pursue the CPEs that are most appropriate to their work.

• In the future, privacy pros that attend an IAPP conference and become certified at that event will be able to receive CPEs from that conference.

For all the details on certification offerings, visit the IAPP website.