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By Steve Hall |
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January 28, 2011 - EADS North America CEO Sean O'Keefe
on Thursday provided the Senate Armed Services Committee
with a written statement outlining the company's
response to the U.S. Air Force's disclosure of data in
the KC-X competition.
"I
appreciate the thoughtful and careful manner in which
the Committee has engaged on the issue of data
disclosure in the KC-X competition," stated Sean
O'Keefe, CEO of EADS North America.
O'Keefe expressed the hope that the Committee would gather the information necessary to gain an "...understanding of what transpired, as well as the care and precision with which EADS North America personnel dealt with a situation that they had no part in creating; and concurrently the professionalism of the U.S. Air Force response to make every effort to preserve the integrity of the procurement for aerial refueling tankers." |
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EADS North
America commissioned an independent investigation conducted by
outside counsel into the company's actions following the Air
Force's unintended data disclosure. This investigation
determined that a single page of summary data derived from
competitive information was inadvertently viewed by one employee
for no more than 15 seconds. These findings were validated by
the Air Force's subsequent forensic investigation and analysis.
In
commenting on the independent investigation, O'Keefe told the
Committee, "Clearly, it would have been preferable that the data
disclosure by the U.S. Air Force had not happened. However,
after a full and thorough review of EADS North America's
actions, I can tell you with high confidence that our actions
following awareness of the disclosure were timely, responsible
and appropriate.
"We have
voluntarily made our findings and reports available to the
Committee, as requested. We did this without making public
statements that might exacerbate matters or adversely affect the
course of this important procurement.
"Unfortunately, it appears that some are attempting to exploit
the U.S. Air Force's inadvertent error by speculating on events
which are not in evidence. Most disconcerting is the false
assertion that EADS North America held for a month the data
incorrectly sent to us. I can assure the Committee that this
allegation is simply untrue and is substantively contradicted by
the government's investigation and detailed forensic analysis." |
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