SAP Positioned as Leader in Leading Industry Analyst Firm’s 2012 Data Quality Tools Magic Quadrant

Press release:

SAP Positioned as Leader in Leading Industry Analyst Firm’s 2012 Data Quality Tools Magic Quadrant

SAP NEWSBYTE - August 13, 2012 | SAP - Database Technology

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced it has been named by Gartner, Inc. in the Leaders quadrant of the “Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Tools” report1. The positioning is based on evaluation of the SAP real-time data platform, which includes SAP® Data Services and SAP® Information Steward software. SAP is recognized as a market leader for both its “ability to execute” and “completeness of vision.”

The report highlights that, “Organizations of all sizes and in all industries are recognizing the importance of high-quality data and the critical role of data quality in information governance and stewardship, driven by broader EIM initiatives.” Gartner forecasts that the data quality tools market will show a compound annual growth rate of 14 percent over the next five years, according to the report, “Forecast: Enterprise Software Markets, Worldwide, 2009-2016, 2Q12 Update.”

SAP Data Services provides a complete foundation to integrate, improve and manage all relevant information regardless of data type or location. The improved access and quality management extends not only to any transactional system but also to analytical and “big data” sources such as social media and machine-generated and geographic data. This provides a complete view of the enterprise that is essential for more effective decision-making and business operations. SAP Information Steward extends these insights to everyone by providing both end users and IT professionals with easy-to-use metrics and dashboards that enable everyone to continuously monitor the composition and trustworthiness of the data sources available to them.

According to the report, “Leaders demonstrate strength across a full range of data quality functions, including profiling, parsing, standardization, matching, validation and enrichment. They exhibit a clear understanding and vision of where the market is headed, including recognition of non-customer data quality issues and delivery of enterprise-level data quality implementations. Leaders have an established market presence, significant size and a multinational presence (directly or as a result of a parent company).”

“As businesses confront the challenges of managing massive volumes of big data in real-time, ensuring high quality information has emerged as one of the biggest inhibitors to providing trusted insights,” said Steve Lucas, global executive vice president and general manager, Database & Technology, SAP. “We believe providing data quality management solutions that seamlessly embed into every application, dashboard and data warehouse is the best way to help ensure that each employee, decision, and business interaction is powered by trusted information.”

For more information, visit the SAP Newsroom. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

Gartner, “Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Tools,” Ted Friedman, Aug. 8, 2012

About the Magic Quadrant
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Networking 101: Quality of Service (QoS)

How well do you know QoS?  We all throw the term around but are we all truly comfortable with it?  Jimmy Ray breaks it down at the packet level and shares the one rule you must never forget.

Networking 101: Quality of Service (QoS)

Cisco Unveils Visual Collaboration Solutions in the Post-PC Era, Extending the Reach of TelePresence with New Mobile-to-Immersive Offerings

PRESS RELEASE

Cisco Unveils Visual Collaboration Solutions in the Post-PC Era, Extending the Reach of TelePresence with New Mobile-to-Immersive Offerings

New Immersive Room System Transforms How TelePresence Can be Used in High-Impact Meetings; Integrates with New Jabber Releases for iPad, Windows

ORLANDO, FL – March 27, 2012 – At the Enterprise Connect trade show, Cisco today introduced new people-centric innovations aimed at making it easier for people to collaborate anywhere, anytime in the post-PC era. The innovations, ranging from new desktop and mobile Cisco Jabber™  collaboration applications to Cisco TelePresence® systems, make it easy for users to move from one collaboration solution to the next based on how they work and their immediate task at hand (for example, moving from instant messaging to voice to video with the click of a button). The new Jabber and TelePresence offerings, which include a new immersive TelePresence system with optimized collaboration capabilities, are completely integrated, giving customers more mobility options while also extending the reach of their telepresence investments. Cisco specifically announced:

·         Powerful tools to extend the reach of TelePresence. Cisco is extending Cisco Jabber to iPad and Windows, building on its extensive Jabber portfolio for Android, iOS, Mac, BlackBerry and Cisco Cius™ tablets. With this development, Cisco is enabling Jabber customers to collaborate from anywhere and across the most popular operating systems utilizing high definition video, voice, presence, instant messaging, desktop sharing, conferencing and visual voicemail. Cisco is also expanding native integration between Jabber and TelePresence, giving mobile users a way to initiate and connect into a TelePresence session whether in the office or on the go. 

·         A new three-screen immersive TelePresence platform. The Cisco TelePresence TX9000 Series delivers the highest quality video experience along with advanced collaboration capabilities*, further building on Cisco's wide array of TelePresence endpoints for customers of all sizes. The TX9000 integrates with collaboration tools like Cisco WebEx with One-Touch simplicity and is also designed to be interoperable with all standards-based endpoints from other vendors.

·         Numerous customer and partner use cases for visual collaboration. A variety of customers and partners across healthcare, financial services, and oil and gas industries are deploying Cisco collaboration solutions to increase productivity and enable their employees to work on their own terms.

These developments come at a time when people increasingly expect freedom of choice in how and where they work, and that includes having access to a variety of integrated collaboration solutions and interoperable endpoints–both hardware and software based. As a result, IT managers are looking to provide highly secure, enterprise-class options that enable employees to interact across a broad range of tools whether collaborating in dedicated immersive telepresence rooms or via PCs, Macs, tablets, or smart phones – and any standards-based endpoint within and between organizations.

These innovations also are occurring as the need for rich video solutions and mobility is burgeoning. According to Cisco's latest Visual Networking Index, globally, 3 trillion minutes or 6 million years of video content will cross the Internet each month in 2015 and by 2016, global mobile data traffic will reach 10.8 exabytes per month (130 exabytes annually); growing 18-fold from 2011 to 2016. By 2016, mobile video will represent 71 percent of all mobile data traffic.

Additional Announcement Details:

Extending the Reach of TelePresence from the Boardroom to the Desktop and Beyond

A little more than five years ago, Cisco drove the creation of TelePresence with the introduction of the first truly intuitive and lifelike, in-person video experience. Cisco is continuing to innovate with the newly designed three-screen TX9000 immersive system that is intended to combine the highest quality TelePresence experience with advanced collaboration and content sharing capabilities. The TX9000 builds on Cisco's broad portfolio of endpoints that extends from the boardroom to the desktop and beyond.

·         From Immersive Video to High-Intensity Collaboration

·         As the pace of business becomes more complex, the meetings that drive decisions are becoming more dynamic and data-centric, requiring multiple inputs for quick turns. These types of business-critical meetings range from brainstorming sessions to product engineering and design, acquisition integration, and crisis communication planning for globally distributed teams, require high-intensity collaboration capabilities that allow people to easily share and interact with content in TelePresence meetings in ways not previously possible. These advanced collaboration capabilities include sharing content on the main TelePresence screens, point and highlight capabilities, white boarding, moving content from screen to screen, and introducing data from multiple content sources*.

·         Advanced Cisco WebEx® integration enables one-button-to-push simplicity for scheduling and starting WebEx® and TelePresence integrated meetings with future capabilities to support adding WebEx ad hoc to any TelePresence call using the Cisco TelePresence Touch interface.

·         New Immersive TelePresence Benchmark

·         TX9000 boasts a new state of the art, sleek industrial design with modern look and premium finish.

·         Innovative camera configuration enhances eye-contact among participants while the technology and cameras blend seamlessly into the background.

·         The system is capable of supporting 1080p, 60 frames per second (fps) while data sharing capabilities support 1080p 30 fps.*

·         Easily start and manage meetings using the Cisco TelePresence Touch user interface with "one button to push" simplicity that provides a consistent experience across the entire Cisco collaboration product portfolio.

·         TX9000 can accommodate six users and the TX9200 comes with a second table that can seat up to 18 users.

·         Provides native interoperability support for SIP, BFCP, H.264 and Telepresence Interoperability Protocol (TIP).

·         Reduced Cost of Ownership and Ease of Set Up

·         TX9000 requires 20 percent less bandwidth than its Cisco predecessor.

·         Significant improvements in ease of partner installation allowing start up in as quickly as two days

·         System does not require any additional specialized lighting or audio.

·         Deployment flexibility options for wall-mounted or free-standing light reflector.

·         Pricing and Availability

·         The TX9000 is targeted to begin shipping in the second quarter of calendar year 2012 with the advanced collaboration and content sharing features targeted for availability later in the calendar year.* List pricing in the United States starts at $299,000. Regional variations may apply.

Extending Cisco Jabber to iPad and Windows and More TelePresence Users

People require a work experience that travels with them, across location, device, and platform. Cisco Jabber releases for iPad and Windows deliver advanced collaboration capabilities to your preferred device.

·         Jabber for iPad:

·         Allows users to access high-quality video, voice, presence, instant messaging, conferencing, and visual voicemail capabilities on the iPad.

·         Jabber for iPad delivers a complete collaboration experience for mobile workers who need instant access to information and decision makers and want to choose when, where, and how they work.

·         Jabber for iPad delivers a standards-based experience built on the same high-quality video engine as Jabber Video for TelePresence and Jabber desktop applications. Jabber for iPad uses H264, XMPP and SIP.

·         Jabber for Windows:

·         A unified client – meaning an end user has one place to go to be able to access a range of communication and collaboration tools including high-definition video, voice, presence, IM (point to point, group, persistent chat) desktop sharing and web conferencing, and visual voicemail access.

·         Cisco Jabber for Windows features a highly intuitive user experience, allowing for point and click access to multiple forms of communication and seamless integration into Microsoft Office.

·         Cisco Jabber for Windows integrates an advanced engine to deliver HD video to the desktop. This technology uses extremely efficient, industry leading codecs and enables customers to use standards-based H.264 HD quality video with common dual-core processor computers while improving performance over lower bandwidth networks.

·         Jabber for Windows uses also XMPP, SIP and BFCP standards.

Cisco Jabber releases for Windows and iPad can be used with on-premises and cloud-based deployment options. Target availability for Jabber for Windows and Jabber for iPad is in the second quarter of calendar year 2012. Cisco Jabber for iPad, Jabber for Windows and related server software are included as part of Cisco Unified Workspace Licensing.

Supporting Quotes: 

William Moore, executive vice president / chief technology officer, CareCore National

With Cisco's video solutions, disparate groups – anybody in the organization as well as truly anybody external – can interact with us face-to-face through TelePresence or using WebEx conference, allowing for more efficient communication and improved collaboration from any location.  Cisco Jabber gives the flexibility in the method of communication, starting with presence and IM, extending its reach to a higher level of communication via desktop sharing, conferencing, and TelePresence sessions.  With these tools, we are able to provide an in-person experience internally as well as with customers and vendors, saving time and improving customer interaction."

Andy Dignan, senior manager unified communications, CDW

"Cisco Jabber is an effective tool for addressing the rapid proliferation of mobile devices in workplaces. Today, several of our solution architects use the Cisco Jabber client on Windows, Mac, Cius, and iPhone devices, and are excited about the new iPad client with HD video.  The Jabber Web plug-in augments the client offering letting us embed real-time unified communications and collaboration into our web-based portal to find product experts, see presence, and click to make voice and video calls in real-time. By embedding UC into our workflow, we're increasing productivity which helps us better serve our customers."

Mike Fitzgerald, managing director and head of information systems, Eagle Investment Systems

"Eagle has a highly mobile workforce across the globe. We are pioneering a high performance workplace that provides flexibility by enabling communications from laptops, tablets, and smart phones. With the Cisco Jabber and TelePresence operating from a common architecture, employees can use any of these devices and any operating systems for collaboration, which includes real-time communication methods to improve their productivity."

Steve Moloney, global network and security manager, McDermott

"McDermott uses Cisco Jabber to provide a unified experience across the company's desktops, tablets, and smart phones, to extend the reach of our TelePresence suite. We believe the adoption of Cisco TelePresence and UC technologies will improve the telecommunication facets to support our complex offshore oil and gas engineering, procurement, construction, and installation projects."

Emrah Aygun, IT infrastructure manager, Turkiye Is Bankasi

"We strive to provide our employees and customers with consistent communications capabilities and a uniform user experience, regardless of what device they are using. In the coming months, we intend to deploy Cisco Jabber to all our 23,000 bank employees—on PCs, Cisco Cius, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry--to provide them with presence, instant messaging, voice, single number reach to mobile devices, unified messaging, WebEx meetings and TelePresence at their desk and on the go. This Cisco UC client deployment will be part of our "one vision" initiative for Turkiye Is Bankasi's future where our customers can communicate with their bank using different channels and locations, with the same service level throughout the nation."

Keld Jersild Olsen, chief executive officer, NetDesign

"As a long-time Cisco partner and early field trial account for the new Cisco TelePresence TX9000, we are excited to offer our customers the next generation immersive telepresence experience.  From the onset of immersive telepresence five years ago, it was about delivering the best face-to-face meeting experience in a controlled room environment where meeting participants felt as if they were in the same room, around the same table.  With the TX9000, Cisco is not only carrying the same robust feature set forward, but they are also delivering advanced collaboration tools which will provide the ultimate in-person meeting experience.  With its streamlined design, easier installation and innovative collaborative platform, the new TX9000 will strengthen our overall immersive telepresence portfolio and enable us to deliver a more compelling business transformation experience to our customers."
 

Torben Bonde chief information officer, Vestas

"We use TelePresence heavily, with two areas especially benefitting by it – our Turbines R&D department and our people development process. Vestas' Turbines R&D is the world´s biggest research and development department in the wind industry, and we use TelePresence for activities like product development, quality assurance and follow up, thus supporting a faster product to market strategy and a higher quality product.  We also use telepresence largely in our People and Culture area: doing job interviews and early Performance and Development Dialogue – thus saving a lot of cost and time on travelling."

OJ Winge, senior vice president and general manager, Collaboration Endpoints Technology Group, Cisco

"In a world that is increasingly mobile, social, visual and virtual, individuals are dictating how, when and where they communicate and collaborate inside and outside of the workplace. With today's TelePresence and mobility announcements, Cisco is continuing to make "any device to any device" a reality, while helping customers collaborate on their own terms on a range of devices that provide a rich and consistent user experience."

Cisco will showcase these new offerings along with other collaboration innovations during a keynote presentation and demonstration on March 27 at Enterprise Connect in Orlando, and additionally to virtual audiences through the March 2012 Cisco Collaboration Virtual Experience.

Additional Resources:

·         Learn more about these announcements and ask questions to Cisco product experts on the March 2012 Cisco Collaboration Virtual Experience.

·         Find more information about the Cisco TelePresence TX9000 Series.

·         Find more information about the Cisco Jabber portfolio. 

·         Social Media: Cisco Collaboration Community, Cisco Collaboration and Video Blogs, @CiscoCollab and@TelePresence on Twitter, Cisco Collaboration and Cisco TelePresence on Facebook.

Technorati Tags:

Cisco, video, TelePresence, high quality video, collaboration, interoperability, endpoints, post PC era, Jabber, Enterprise Connect, unified conferencing, mobile, iPad, Windows, Android, Cius,

*Enabled in future software release

About Cisco Collaboration

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com.

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Multimedios Television Chooses Cisco PowerVu Solution & Videoscape TV

PRESS RELEASE

Multimedios Televisión Chooses Cisco PowerVu Solution and Videoscape TV Technology to Expand Channel Distribution

The television division of Grupo Multimedios is at the forefront of video distribution, improving efficiency, security and the quality of transmitted signals

Monterrey, Mexico, 21 March, 2012 — Multimedios Televisión has started satellite transmissions to national and international customers using the IP-centric Cisco® PowerVu® video processing and distribution technology, along with the Cisco Digital Content Manager (DCM), a key component of the Cisco Videoscape^™ TV service delivery platform.

The signal of Multimedios Televisión, Milenio Televisión, Teleritmo, Multimedios USA and Multimedios HD, transmitted to different paid television operators in Mexico and the United States, is based on MPEG4 DVB-S2 capabilities, which will allow a more efficient use of the satellite broadband. As a result, more channels can be distributed to customers.  In addition, services can be controlled for each paid television system and new services, like digital advertising, among others, can be offered.

The Cisco PowerVu architecture is based on the Internet Protocol (IP), which provides more efficiency in signal processing when converting and encapsulating IP Communications, and enables Multimedios Televisión to take advantage of proven redundancy and high-availability schemes. The distribution component is designed with a focus on security requirements and the administration of satellite ground terminals.

The PowerVu system has a codification system based on the next-generation Cisco Modular Encoding Platform D9036.

About PowerVu

• The multiplexing architecture system is based on the Cisco DCM Series D9900 Digital Content Manager, an integral piece of the Cisco Videoscape TV services delivery platform, which applies redundancy and processing schemes to the signals generated by the Cisco D9036 Modular Encoding Platform. The high capacity of the DCM will enable new functionalities in the audio and video systems. Furthermore, PowerVu has monitoring and control systems based on the ROSA EM and ROSA NMS platforms, which allow the implementation of redundant automatic schemes monitoring each of the elements of the platform and the service.

• The PowerVu control and conditional access system is designed so that only authorized customers can decrypt the signal and distribute it via their television system. The customer database and integrated receiver/decoders allow Multimedios to manage each one of them properly. 

• The satellite receptors, or integrated receiver/decoders, contemplated as part of the solution cover the needs of all the multiservice operators. The PowerVu Model D9858 Advanced Receiver Transcoder allows the transcoding of signals from MPEG4 to MPEG2 to facilitate the current cable systems, which are based on MPEG2. The flexibility of the D9858 allows the signals to be converted from HD into SD and from MPEG4 to MPEG2.

Supporting Quotes

"The solution supplied by Cisco allows us to use the maximum broadband in the satellite and to have eight signals, two of them in HD, where we had only four SD signals before," said Guillermo Franco, general director, Multimedios Televisión.

"Multimedios subscribers will have multiple benefits, such as three levels of sophisticated internal security based on a series of hierarchical encryption designed to withstand failure or a security breach. The PowerVu conditional access system is a proven platform for more than 20 years, and is implemented currently in more than 175 countries," said Rogelio Velasco, general director, Cisco Mexico.

News Release from Hewlett Packard - RACC

Press Release : March 08, 2012

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HP to Manage Information Systems for Spain’s Royal Automobile Club of Cataluña

Country’s largest automobile club to boost quality of services offered to members

Topics:Technology and Innovation

BARCELONA, Spain -- Hewlett-Packard s.l. today announced that the Royal Automobile Club of Cataluña (RACC) has signed a five-year agreement for HP Enterprise Services to manage its applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, HP will help the RACC improve efficiency and productivity by transforming the way the organization delivers, manages and measures its IT applications.

The RACC is the largest automobile club in Spain, providing emergency breakdown support to more than 1 million members annually. The organization has 2,000 professionals; a fleet of 2,500 vehicles, aircraft and medical helicopters; and a phone service that remains open 24/7.

HP was selected for its high level of service and quality, which reflects the RACC’s commitment to excellence in the services provided to its members.

”This agreement allows the RACC to increase the quality of its services by maximizing flexibility and adaptability to any potential changes in activity, while improving access to the latest innovations in the technology market,” said Josep Mateu, general manager, RACC.

“The RACC´s membership, insurance, member support and mobile telephony systems use different applications,” said Albert Reichardt, director, Corporate Support, RACC. “HP Enterprise Services will provide our IT team with deeper insight into these applications so we can improve management, optimize costs and drive change within the organization.”

Application-level visibility will improve the RACC’s efficiency as well as the service it provides to its customers. Additionally, it will enable the RACC to align applications spending with business priorities while reinvesting the resulting savings in strategic initiatives and growth.

“In today’s world of instant expectations, an enterprise’s future success depends on optimally managing applications so that IT investments can be shifted from maintenance to innovation,” said Ed Quinn, vice president, Worldwide Applications Development and Management Services, HP. “HP will help increase the RACC’s business agility, optimize application performance and boost productivity.”

To learn more, attend HP’s premier client event, HP Discover, which takes place June 4-7 in Las Vegas.

News Release from GE

21 February 2012

GE Announces Upgraded Video Compression Module to Enhance Military Decision Making and Troop Safety

 

ICS-8580 rugged XMC responds to growing use of video in conflict zones

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA February 21, 2012 GE Intelligent Platforms today announced an enhanced version of the ICS-8580 rugged high definitionvideo compression XMC module. Designed in response to the growing use of video in a broad range of defense applications, it allows very high quality moving images to be captured, transmitted and stored at very high speed with very low latency and with minimal consumption of precious bandwidth or disk space. As such, it can make a significant contribution to superior decision making and improved troop safety.

The ICS-8580 can capture video inputs and archive or stream them overEthernet, managing multiple streams and performing capture, manipulation, conversion, compression, storage, decompression and video display. Its rugged XMC form factor means that it is compact, lightweight and consumes little power, enabling it to be easily deployed in systems destined for deployment in harsh environments that are constrained by size, weight and power (SWaP).

The original version of the ICS-8580 has been widely deployed in programs such as NASA’s Global Hawk initiative.

Specifically, the enhancements from the previous version of the ICS-8580 include:

• The provision of two DSPs, each of which can be configured as an encoder or decoder, providing superior system flexibility.
• Full support for PCI Express, allowing uncompressed data to be uploaded and downloaded and improving configurability within custom systems
• Provision of an SDK (software development kit) for faster integration with remote configuration options
• Inclusion of six inputs and four outputs for flexible pass-through modes, allowing the use of any front end connector and facilitating integration with legacy systems
• Out of the box ability to connect to a NAS (network-attached storage) for easier integration.
• Support for the synchronization of stereo or mono sound for improved flexibility.

“The increasing deployment of unmanned vehicles by military organizations around the world is increasing demand for the use of video for intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance applications,” said Rod Rice, General Manager, Military & Aerospace Products, GE Intelligent Platforms. “The ICS-8580 provides a substantial step forward in its ability to stream video, and provides a solution for a new realm of sophisticated, demanding applications.”

In video capture and transmission, the primary challenge is how to maintain video quality in order to maximize critical detail while minimizing the use of bandwidth by implementing highly efficient algorithms: transmitting ‘raw’, unprocessed high definition video data at very high speed requires bandwidth that is rarely available in, for example, air-to-ground applications. Similarly, storage of high definition video data – for later review and analysis, for example - in its uncompressed form can require terabytes of disk space.

The ICS-8580 features H.264 video compression/decompression (codec) technology, which is widely regarded as being the optimum solution: it is considered to be up to 3x as efficient as other codec solutions, allowing vital image detail to be retained while occupying the minimum possible bandwidth or storage.

At the heart of the ICS-8580 lies a combination of a versatile FPGA device coupled with powerful dual DSP signal processors, providing unparalleled compute power for video applications. The FPGA enables video switching, format conversions, scaling, blending and other processing functions while the dual DSP processors enable multichannel video compression and decompression for over 100x reduction in bandwidth with minimal impact on video quality. It can handle up to two channels of full HD (1080p30) or UXGA (1,600 x 1,200 @ 30 frames/second) video, or up to four channels of standard definition video.

For more information: http://defense.ge-ip.com/products/3525

MOEX Offshore Agrees to $90 Million Partial Settlement

News release from EPA:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 17, 2012

MOEX Offshore Agrees to $90 Million Partial Settlement of Liability in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
$70 million penalty is largest under the Clean Water Act; MOEX also to perform Gulf conservation projects worth at least $20 million
 

WASHINGTON – MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million, announced the Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today.  Approximately $45 million of the $90 million settlement is going directly to the Gulf in the form of penalties or expedited environmental projects.

According to the terms of the settlement, MOEX will pay $70 million in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act resulting from the spill and agreed to spend $20 million to facilitate land acquisition projects in several Gulf states that will preserve and protect in perpetuity habitat and resources important to water quality and other environmental features of the Gulf of Mexico region.  At the time of the spill, MOEX was a minority investor in the lease for the Macondo well. It no longer owns any share of the lease.

The terms of today’s settlement do not affect the potential liability of – or recoveries from – other parties involved in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Beginning with a well blowout and explosion on April 20, 2010, the owners and operators of the Macondo Well and the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon allowed millions of barrels of oil to escape into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting the entire region.  Oil spills can cause both immediate and long-term harm to people’s health and the environment.  The Clean Water Act provides for civil penalties for such discharges.  This is the largest civil penalty ever recovered under the Clean Water Act.

“The Department of Justice has not wavered in its commitment to hold all responsible parties fully accountable for what stands as the largest oil spill in U.S. history,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.  “This landmark settlement is an important step – but only a first step – toward achieving accountability and protecting the future of the Gulf ecosystem by funding critical habitat preservation projects.”

“This will move the Gulf Coast along in its recovery as it continues to rebound from the largest spill in U.S. history,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Bob Papp.  “The settlement demonstrates our firm commitment to hold accountable those who pollute our environment.”

“This is good news for the Gulf Coast communities that are continuing to rebuild their economy and restore their ecosystem. This administration is going to stand with the people here to ensure a full recovery from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Dedicating funds to actions that restore the local waters is a vital part of restoring these communities.  As someone who grew up on the Gulf Coast, I know how important clean water is to the lives and livelihoods of the people here, and I know we need to take every possible action to get the ecosystem here on a path to long-term restoration.” 

As part of the settlement, MOEX Offshore has agreed to pay $70 million in civil penalties, of which, $45 million will go to the United States.  The money will go toward replenishing the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, where by law it will be available to pay for response actions, cleanup and damages caused by future spills.  The remaining penalty will go to Gulf states that participate in the settlement.  Those states will receive penalty payments as follows: $6.75 million to Louisiana, $5 million each to Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, and $3.25 million to Texas.

MOEX Offshore has also agreed to secure and protect properties of ecological significance for the Gulf habitats.  MOEX Offshore will ensure that properties within the states of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Florida are transferred to – or acquired by – state governments, non-profit groups, land trusts or other appropriate entities, to protect those properties from development.  In all, these projects are expected to cost at least $20 million. The negotiation process with MOEX included numerous discussions with the Gulf states, who have been indispensible in reaching this important agreement.

This settlement does not affect the government’s claims against any other defendant in the Deepwater Horizon lawsuit that was filed on Dec. 15, 2010.  The trial of the first phase of the case is set to begin in federal district court in New Orleans on Feb. 27, 2012.

MOEX Offshore is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the MOEX USA Corporation.  Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. is the corporate parent of MOEX USA, which in turn is owned by Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Japan.

The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, is subject to a 30-day comment period and final court approval. 

More information on the settlement: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/moex.html