Larry Irving is the President and CEO of the Irving Information Group, a consulting firm providing strategic advice and assistance to international telecommunications and technology companies, technology and media startups and foundations and non-profit organizations. Prior to founding the Irving Information Group, Mr. Irving served for almost seven years as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where he was a principal advisor to the President, Vice President and Secretary of Commerce on domestic and international telecommunications and information technology issues.

During his tenure as Assistant Secretary, the focus of Mr. Irving's work was opening domestic and foreign telecommunications markets to competition, ensuring consumer choice, and spurring development of advanced telecommunications and information infrastructures in rural and under served areas. Mr. Irving was one of the principal architects and advocates of the Clinton Administration's telecommunications and Internet policies, and was a point person in the Clinton Administration's successful efforts to reform the United States telecommunications laws. Those efforts resulted in passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the most sweeping change in America s telecommunications laws in 60 years.

Similarly, in international fora, Irving was an ardent advocate of regulatory reform on behalf of the Clinton Administration. He represented the United States Government as Sherpa (lead coordinator for the U.S. Government) at the G-7's first Ministerial meeting on the Global Information Society in Brussels, and at the Information Society and Development Conference in South Africa, the first Ministerial meeting between developing countries and developed countries to discuss the Global Information Infrastructure. Mr. Irving was also a key member of the United States team that negotiated the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on basic telecommunication services.

On behalf of the Clinton Administration, Mr. Irving led or participated in trade missions and global conferences in all corners of the world to promote principles of competition, liberalization, and privatization of telecommunications and information technology sectors. Mr. Irving also has been an ardent advocate of regulatory forbearance with regard to new information technologies, particularly the Internet, and helped establish domestic and international policies regarding the emerging Electronic Commerce marketplace.

Mr. Irving is widely credited with coining the term the digital divide and sparking global interest in the growing problem it represents. He initiated and was the principal author of the landmark Federal survey, Falling Through the Net, which tracked access to telecommunications and information technologies, including telephones, computers and the Internet, across racial, economic, and geographic lines. In large part due to his work to promote policies and develop programs to ensure access to advanced telecommunications and information technologies, Mr. Irving was named one of the fifty most influential persons in the 'Year of the Internet' by Newsweek Magazine.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1976, and is a recipient of the University's Alumni Merit Award for distinguished professional achievement. He is also a graduate of Stanford University School of Law, where he was President of the Class of 1979.

He is married to Leslie Annett Wiley and resides in the District of Columbia.