Obama names execs from Twitter, Microsoft to telecom advisory committee

President Obama named five individuals to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee on Thursday, including executives from Twitter, Microsoft and McAfee.

The committee convenes industry leaders to advise the White House on how to ensure communications remain available during any crisis. Membership typically includes representatives from the largest telecom firms.

The five new members are Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Trustworth Computing Group; Twitter CEO Dick Costolo; McAfee President Dave DeWalt; Terremark Federal Group President Jamie Dos Santos; and Neustar CEO Lisa Hook.

Costolo's appointment is particularly notable, as it signifies Twitter's rising importance as a provider of one of the fastest-growing real-time digital communications platforms. He previously worked as Twitter's chief operating officer and at Google after it acquired FeedBurner, which he founded in 2004.