VICTORIA — Friday, June 20, 2008 — The latest competition at the International eNegotiation Tournament featuring the new Smartsettle One system ended Thursday with a surprising finalist.

Nine-year-old Jade Larson, daughter of Dr. David Larson, a speaker at the 2008 Forum on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), achieved third place in a Smartsettle One competition hosted by the International eNegotiation Tournament. The full slate of top performers are posted here at the Tournament website.

Dr. Larson with daughter, Jade

Smartsettle is most widely known for its Infinity software, the world’s only multi-issue, multi-party online negotiation system. The company has now established another important landmark- distilling the vision and basic functionality of Smartsettle Infinity into an easy-to-use single-issue negotiation system, Smartsettle One.

During the Forum in Victoria last week, delegates participated in the competition, trying the new web-based application using real world scenarios as case contexts. As one of the youngest delegates at the conference, Jade Larson added a new dimension of enthusiasm to the gathering, influencing keynote speaker and Internet pioneer, Vinton Cerf's opening remarks when he said that ODR has come a long way, such that a 9-year-old has demonstrated usability of new technologies.