Wireless Grids Corp., Syracuse University partner to offer ‘WeJay’

Wireless Grids Corp. (WGC) and Syracuse University announce an agreement to offer a promising social media application of WGC’s social radio application called “WeJay.”

Under the agreement, WeJay will be made available to SU students, faculty, staff and other affiliates for experimental use. Access to WeJay will be through WiGiT, the Wireless Grid Innovation Testbed.  WiGiT is a joint project of SU and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) funded by the National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) program.

WGC’s ‘WeJay’ product enables a community of people to dynamically interact using various forms of content on their mobile (and other electronic) devices.  Leveraging WGC’s patent-pending “edgeware” applications, WeJay’s interaction is seamless and allows users to create “social radio stations,” which stream together the strengths of broadcast radio and the social, interactive capabilities of the Internet.

WeJay can also be used for other purposes such as cyber-learning and cultural heritage preservation.

Wireless grids is a new model for heterogeneous devices to share physical and virtual resources in an ad hoc environment. The wireless grids concept was first pioneered by SU and Lee W. McKnight, Kauffman Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at SU’s School of Information Studies (iSchool.)  McKnight also founded Wireless Grids Corp., which spun out of SU and the PFI project in 2004. In 2009, McKnight resigned as CEO of WGC to become principal investigator of the WiGiT project.

“The extension of our collaboration with WGC through WeJay and the WiGiT testbed is a superb example of the reciprocity of cross-sector partnership,” says Syracuse University Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor. “Not only are we facilitating local development of cutting-edge technology, but our faculty and students are playing central roles in exploring the technology’s capabilities–especially social radio’s promise to advance the public good through applications for people with disabilities and for diverse communities to preserve their cultural heritage, among many other possible uses. Our partnership already has accomplished so much over the past decade, and yet we’ve only just scratched the surface of our collective potential to leverage the power of wireless grids.”

“We at SU have had the privilege to witness the refinement of the grand vision of wireless grids into a practical reality,” says Christopher M. Sedore, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at SU. “Syracuse University is always interested in exploring new innovations and how they may be applied for the benefit of our students, faculty and staff, and our community and local businesses. Positioning our students at the leading edge of wireless technology innovation equips them with experience to help real businesses refine their product strategies to align with community needs.”

“We are very excited to further explore the ways our WeJay social radio product can enable new user and device communities—we call them social grids—to assist us in product testing, and soon, witness Syracuse students and others creating their own products and innovations leveraging our software platform,” says WGC Chief Executive Officer John Andrews.

“We are pleased Wireless Grids Corp. is joining Govsphere in contributing to the resources available for research and educational purposes at Syracuse University for WiGiT partners,” says George Mazevski, CEO of Govsphere. “Opportunities to explore emerging markets with innovative partners like Wireless Grids Corp., along with Syracuse University faculty and students, solidify the value of the WiGiT partnership.”

Sara Nerlove, National Science Foundation program director for Partnerships for Innovation in the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, and Directorate for Engineering, says:  “We are delighted to see initial products from the WiGiT concept and how they may advance infrastructureless wireless networks. When students, universities, companies and government agencies collaborate, they can create innovations that benefit the entire community.”

“This agreement marks a historic step in advancing use of wireless grids innovations,” says McKnight. “I look forward to learning from Syracuse University students what the future of these innovations might be. As founder, former CEO and presently a board member of Wireless Grids Corp., it is great to welcome WGC home.”

About Wireless Grids Corp.:

Wireless Grids Corp. was spun out of Syracuse University and its labs and the National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation program in 2004. Wireless Grids Corp., licensing intellectual property from the ‘Virtual Markets in Wireless Computational and Communication Grids’ project supported by the National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation program, is developing a software-based solution that is a next-generation platform that transforms computer networking and wireless infrastructures’ (all devices) ability to interact seamlessly with little configuration. WGC has been widely recognized, including “One of the 9 Wireless Companies to Watch”, Network World 2009. WGC is a member of the Wireless Grid Innovation Testbed (WiGiT) project as an Academic Research Partner with Syracuse University, and an Academic Research Support Partner with the National Science Foundation (NSF).