Thursday, April 18th Luncheon keynote

Larry Irving is the President of the Irving Information Group , a consulting firm providing strategic planning and market development services to international telecommunications and information technology companies. Prior to forming the Irving Information Group, in October 1999, Mr. Irving served for almost seven years as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, where he was a principal advisor to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international communications and information policy issues and supervised programs that award grants to extend the reach of advanced telecommunications technologies to under served areas.

As a member of the Clinton Administration's technology team, Mr. Irving played an integral role in developing the Administration's Electronic Commerce, National Information Infrastructure and Global Information Infrastructure initiatives. He was a point person in the Administration's successful efforts to reform the United States' telecommunications law, which resulted in the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 -- the most sweeping change in America's telecommunications law in 60 years.

Mr. Irving is widely credited with coining the term "the digital divide" and informing the American public about the growing problem it represents. He initiated and was the principal author of the landmark Federal survey, Falling Through the Net, which tracks access to telecommunications and information technologies, including telephones, computers and the Internet, across racial, economic, and geographic lines. Mr. Irving also was a key proponent in the Clinton-Gore Administration of policies to protect the diversity of voices in the commercial broadcast arena and to promote increased opportunities for minorities, women and rural Americans in the emerging digital economy.