Cliff Schmidt is the XML Standards Strategy Program Manager for Microsoft's Webdata team, which is responsible for MSXML and the .NET Framework's XML classes. Aside from working with several W3C working groups to address a broad cross-section of XML-related issues, Cliff has also represented Microsoft on the OASIS Provisioning Services Technical Committee. Cliff has worked as both a program manager and software developer on projects including .NET My Services (formerly code-named, “Hailstorm”) and the Microsoft.com content management platform. He has been working in the software industry since 1987, with the exception of serving six years as a submarine officer for the US Navy. Cliff received his B.S. in Cognitive Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he also worked as a researcher at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science.