President Barack Obama unveiled his group of outside economic advisers Friday, which will be chaired by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and will be directed inside the White House. Several experts on the 15-member panel have close ties to the high-tech community. They include:

▪ John Doerr, a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers who helped launch companies like Amazon, Google, Compaq and Netscape.

▪ Oracle Corp. President Charles Phillips, who was previously with investment bank Morgan Stanley and a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.

▪ University of California at Berkeley business school dean Laura Tyson, a former economic adviser to President Bill Clinton and author of a recent report on the economic impact of intellectual property enforcement.

▪ General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, who has been with GE since 1982 and serves on the board of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

"The board will provide an independent voice on intelligence issues and will be charged with offering independent advice to the president as he formulates and implements his plans for economic recovery," according to a White House press release. The group will provide regular briefings to Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and will be established initially for a two-year term.