The Steering Committee (SC) for the Ocean Information Technology Infrastructure is charged with developing a flexible and comprehensive implementation plan for a distributed information technology infrastructure (ITI) that can: Meet the immediate ITI needs of the NOPP Modeling/Data Assimilation nodes as well as the projected needs of other modeling teams and the broader ocean modeling community over the next decade. Be readily integrated with future observational, data management and educational components of the "Hub/Node" enterprise. Be easily upgraded, as information technology advances, with minimal disruption to users. The implementation plan should: Assess existing ITI activities and concepts in the U.S. science community (e.g., PACI, ASCI, MSRC) and their adequacy in addressing current and future ITI needs of the ocean science community. Anticipate future ITI needs of the ocean community (current and projected NOPP nodes; other teams and individual PI's) Include a strategy for providing efficient allocation of resources and easy access to all ocean science users conducting highly meritorious research programs with large IT requirements. Three FUNDAMENTAL operating principles of the SC must be: That it will seek broad community input and, to the extent practicable, develop a plan that has broad community support That it involves in the planning process all of the main disciplines that make up ocean sciences as well as experts drawn from existing ITI activities like the PACI program. That it takes into account the variety of data streams from remote sensing, in-situ water column, and sea-floor observatories that can be reasonably expected over the next decade.