Vice President Al Gore has tapped Commerce Department senior advisor Elizabeth Echols to manage the administration-level Electronic Commerce Working Group.
Echols, in the newly created executive director position, will coordinate the administration's electronic commerce policy among federal agencies, including the deployment of high-speed Internet services, crafting online consumer protections and creating a global e-commerce framework.
"The hot issues right now are broadband deployment, Internet taxes, WTO and a whole host of content issues," said Echols, who will handle a number of the day-to-day duties for the group.
The working group is headed by David Beier, Gore's chief domestic policy advisor, and Sally Katzen, counselor to the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Echols most recently advised Commerce Secretary William Daley on Internet and e-commerce issues.
The working group is different from another panel created by President Clinton over the weekend. That new group, to be headed by the attorney general, is charged with determining whether new laws or regulations are needed to punish the illegal sale of guns, drugs, explosives and pornography on the Internet.
Echols said that although the two groups play different roles, they would likely coordinate some of their efforts.