Biographical Sketch: Eliot Christian is helping develop and promote a global vision for information access that enhances the free flow of information through decentralized information locator services. He helped establish this approach in law, policy, standards, and technology at the United States Federal level, building consensus among government agencies and developing key support among libraries and information service organizations and corporations. He has been carrying these ideas to other levels of government and internationally, leading the ISO Metadata Working Group and consulting on a variety of initiatives supporting a Global Information Infrastructure. Most recently, he has helped design the architecture for the international Global Earth Observatiuons System of Systems.

Since 1990, Eliot has pursued issues of data and information management primarily from the perspective of environment and earth science at the interagency and international levels. He joined the United States Geological Survey in 1986, as a manager of data and information systems with a focus on strategic planning, standards, and new technologies. From 1975 to 1986, he managed computer resources in the Veterans Administration, helping direct six nationwide data processing centers and overseeing data management for all VA corporate databases.