Blue Jeans Network Gets Internet2 NET+ Certification

Blue Jeans Network's cloud-based video collaboration platform is now available through the Internet2 NET+ portfolio. The new partnership will enable students, faculty and researchers from nearly 250 universities to connect via video from any location and on any device, over the Internet2 high-speed backbone.

The company worked with several institutions, including the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, the University of Southern Florida and the University of Michigan, to complete the Internet2 NET+ service validation process, passing a series of tests and an in-depth review of security measures and controls.

Blue Jeans also worked to integrate its service with other Internet2 services, including a direct connection to the high-speed Internet2 Network and integration with Internet2's InCommon identity federation.

"In today's age of information sharing, the Internet2 community requires video collaboration platforms that are high-quality, affordable, easy-to-use and can be easily administered through our various universities. Blue Jeans passed the community-developed Internet2 NET+ certification program with flying colors," said Shelton Waggener, senior vice president for Internet2, in a press release.

Special pricing for the research and higher education community is available through the partnership: Universities have the option of paying a fixed, flat-rate price for up to three years, based on the number of faculty and staff, and get unlimited use of the Blue Jeans service (unlimited meetings, unlimited minutes, unlimited licenses, unlimited ports). In addition, students receive free access.

"Blue Jeans allows us to leverage the significant investment we've made in traditional video conferencing infrastructure to meet with people connecting from consumer devices. There is no pre-certification or testing required using Blue Jeans. Users simply click a link to join, and the meeting is off and running," commented Casey Emerson, director of education technology at the UNC-Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy, in a prepared statement. "We find new use cases for Blue Jeans daily; it's been used for everything from student debates, remote collaboration and presentations, to meetings with clinical faculty located in hospitals and pharmacies across the state. Blue Jeans and the Internet2 partnership reinforce our dedication to enabling effective collaboration for our students, faculty and staff."

For more information, go to the Blue Jeans site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • Microsoft

    Microsoft Introduces Its First Quantum Computing Chip

    Microsoft has unveiled Majorana 1, its first quantum computing chip, aimed at deployment in datacenters.

  • interconnected glowing nodes and circuits in blue and green, forming a neural network on a dark background with a futuristic design

    Tech Giants Launch $100 Billion AI Infrastructure Network Project

    OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle have unveiled a new venture, Stargate, through which they aim to build a massive AI infrastructure network across the United States. The initiative, which was announced at the White House with President Donald Trump, has been described as the "largest AI infrastructure project in history."

  • glowing digital shield with a checkmark in the center, surrounded by interconnected lines and nodes on a dark blue background with subtle circuit patterns

    Navigating CMMC 2.0: New Cybersecurity Standards Impact Higher Education

    In October 2024, the Department of Defense published a new update to its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification enforcing new cybersecurity standards on universities and colleges. With Phase 1 beginning this year, here's what the new requirements mean for higher ed.