EdgeData announced Dr. Joshua Riedy as Chief Operating Officer. In addition to joining the executive leadership team, Riedy has a partnership stake in the emerging software analytics company.

Riedy most recently served as the Vice Provost, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Information Officer at the University of North Dakota (UND) and has university experience in South Dakota as well. While at UND he provided leadership to several initiatives concerning big data, high-performance computing, cyber operations, cyber security, and unmanned aerial systems (UAS or drones) including the National Science Foundation funded by Midwest Big Data Hub.

"Dr. Riedy perfectly suits the EdgeData vision and mission," said Chris Shroyer, president of EdgeData. "His experience leading teams in a collaborative atmosphere, and in capturing and analyzing big data bring immediate value to our customers and partners. We're privileged to have him."

EdgeData, based in Grand Forks, equips businesses with the software to systematically capture, compute and consume big data intelligence. The company's recent innovation, BladeEdgeSM, is the patent-pending, first automated analytical software tool customized for the wind energy industry. BladeEdgeSM software transforms raw data from aerial inspection into actionable intelligence for the wind industry.

EdgeData recently attracted new equity, totaling nearly $1.2 million in capital investment since April 2015. The additional capital will fuel the next BladeEdgeSM analytics release as well as support of research and development on other big data and UAS applications. EdgeData continues to refine the software, while working with several wind farm owners, operators and manufacturers.

"Dr. Riedy's expertise in big data and unmanned aircraft systems in combination with the additional capital investment allows EdgeData to accelerate its mission to extract value and create actionable intelligence solving the big data challenges of today," said EdgeData CEO Lonnie Bloomquist. "Dr. Riedy is well suited to take on the revolution EdgeData is driving in the UAS, big data and power industries."

Josh, a lifelong resident of North and South Dakota, was born in Hettinger, raised on a ranch near Thunder Hawk, and is a graduate of Lemmon High School. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from South Dakota State University and his doctoral degree is from the University of South Dakota. He and his family have resided in Grand Forks for the past nine years and will continue to do so.

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