President Clinton has named Elizabeth B.
Echols to the newly-created position of executive director of the
Electronic Commerce Working Group, an e-commerce task force.
According to The New York Times, Echols’ chief job will be coordinating the numerous agencies that are involved in helping the government set e-commerce policies. She also said a primary concern would be online
consumer protection and to develop a worldwide e-commerce framework.
Echols, 39, a lawyer and former investment banker, was most recently the
senior advisor to the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator
Larry Irving. Earlier this month Irving announced he would leave his
position and will be succeeded by Gregory Rohde, a legislative
assistant to Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat.
The Electronic Commerce Working Group task force was initiated last fall by Ira C. Magaziner, formerly the Clinton Administration’s point man on Internet policy. After Magaziner resigned, David Beier was named chairman of the group. He will remain chairman and will be assisted by Echols.
“My job is really to coordinate the
numerous agencies that are involved. There are at least 12 federal agencies that
are working in electronic commerce. The idea is to have one central
place at the White House where we can work together and shape one
Administration policy,” she told The Times.
“Obviously, the different agencies will bring their
expertise and mandates to the table. We want to make sure we have one
coordinated, cohesive policy.”
In addition to focusing on consumer protection, other policy issues Echols will concentrate on include furthering broadband Internet access for Americans.