IBM Provides National Geographic Society With Its Own Photography e-Commerce Site

IBM today announced that the National Geographic Society is digitizing more than 10,000 of its hallmark images of culture, adventure and nature and making them commercially available worldwide.

Based on IBM e-business software and hardware infrastructure technology, the new on-demand e-business solution will expand and enhance National Geographic's IT infrastructure through a new B2B Web site located at www.ngsimages.com.

As a result of the new solution, National Geographic is enabling customers worldwide, from advertising agencies, corporate marketing departments and international publishers, to view, select, purchase and download world renowned images directly from their desktops.

"IBM's solution is helping NGS more effectively serve our customers worldwide by making our images available in the digital marketplace," said Maura Mulvihill, National Geographic's vice president, image collection.

The cornerstone of National Geographic's on demand solution is WebSphere Commerce for Digital Media, software that allows customers to easily search the archive and to purchase images securely over the Internet. In addition, IBM's Content Manager and DB2 database software will serve as the repository enabling them to search, access and analyze thousands of media assets. The solution will be based on e-Server pSeries. Additionally, IBM's digital asset management system solution for publishing, Networked Interactive Content Access (NICA), will be used to implement some future digitization projects at the Society.

Initially the new site will house more than 10,000 photographs; National Geographic anticipates adding as many as 3,000 new images each year for commercial use. Today, National Geographic's image collection includes more than 10 million images.

IBM is the leader in helping companies and organizations create and implement sophisticated, cutting-edge applications to develop complex business solutions. NGS joins a growing list of customers, including Coca-Cola, CNN and Ogilvy & Mather, who are using IBM digital media solutions to archive and manage valuable digital assets.

About IBM

IBM is one of the largest providers worldwide in the field of information technology (hardware, software and services). The company employs approximately 310,000 people worldwide and is active in more than 160 countries. IBM and its partners provide their clients with a complete range of products in advanced information technology: from hardware and software through services and complex application solutions through to outsourcing projects and training facilities. Further information can be obtained about IBM on www.ibm.com.

About The National Geographic Society

Founded in 1888, the National Geographic Society is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Its mission is to increase global understanding and promote conservation of our planet through exploration, research and education. The Society reaches nearly 200 million people each month through its five magazines, the National Geographic Channel, books, videos, maps and interactive media. National Geographic has funded more than 7,000 scientific research projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy.