Larry IrvingSpeaker and Booking Agent Information

Irving was one of the principal architects and advocates of the Clinton Administrations telecommunications and internet policies and was a point person in the 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 Americas telecommunications laws in 60 years. Irving was also the senior counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee on telecommunications and finance, where he helped draft and negotiate the Cable Television Consumer Protection Act, the Childrens Television Act, and Television Decoder Circuitry Act.

Global Impact. Internationally, Irving is an ardent advocate of regulatory reform. He represented the United States government as sherpa (lead coordinator for the U.S. Government) at the G-7s 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 and developed countries to discuss the emerging global internet. Irving was also a key member of the U.S. team that negotiated the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement on basic telecommunication services.

Irving is widely credited with coining the term the digital divide and sparking global interest in the issue. In large part due to his work to promote policies and develop programs to ensure access to advanced telecommunications and information technologies, Irving was named one of Newsweeks 50 most influential people in the Year of the Internet. He is also a resident at the Foreign Policy magazine.