of Energy and Treasury Department, as well as the attorney general and the director of national intelligence.



DHS would be responsible for the overall management of the program, but the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) would work with industry to help craft the framework for it. The agency would work with the private sector to develop cybersecurity guidelines and best practices.



DHS would receive the guidance from NIST and work with so-called sector coordinating councils to identify which industry sectors would be considered critical infrastructure, as well as determine what cybersecurity best practices and standards the industry participants in the voluntary program would follow.



Those coordinating councils are already in place, and fall under an arm of DHS that manages critical infrastructure protection. The councils are runLewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who has not seen a copy of the draft executive order.



To get industry participation in the program, Lewis argues that it's key for the inter-agency council to include agencies that already regulate critical infrastructure, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.



Lewis also fears that it would take the government too long to get the voluntary program in the executive order up and running.



"The White House needs to step back and say, 'Does this make a meaningful contribution in the near term?' " Lewis said.



Additionally, he cautioned that industry would balk at electing to join a program led by DHS, which is plagued with a spotty track record when it comes to