STUDENTS, researchers, scientists and educators across Africa’s research and education landscape can now have secure and trusted access to global online resources as the eduID.africa Catch-All Federation joins the eduGAIN interfederation, Effah Amponsah reports from Accra.
eduID.africa is the identity and access management framework implemented in the AfricaConnect3 project by the three regional research networks to fast-track the rollout of national identity federations by NRENs. The trust framework aims to make it easier for R&E communities in Africa to collaborate and access electronic services with a secure and trustworthy digital identity.
eduGAIN comprises more than 70 participating federations connecting more than 8,000 Identity and Service Providers. With eduID.africa membership in the global interfederation, users from participating institutions and NRENs can prove who they are online and securely access global resources and services with credentials from their home universities.
‘As more collaborative services get digitalised, identity management gains traction and federated access is paramount. eduID.africa provides a continental workspace to expand the Research and Education service base with a trusted user identity management structure. As part of eduGAIN, our services shall be available for secure access to a wider audience. Additionally, eduID.africa will continue to support establishment of new identity federations in Africa’,’ says Prof. Madara Ogot, CEO of UbuntuNet Alliance.
‘Robust online identity is critical for digital transformation in education because it protects people, processes, and assets and enables stakeholders to foster innovation and improve user experience. eduID.africa is, therefore, a keystone for international collaboration and secure access to online services offered by diverse service providers. We are developing support tools and cloud services with NRENs to improve identity management at the campus level and maximise the opportunities. adds Dr. Boubakar Barry, CEO of WACREN.
‘Users who receive access through a centralised platform benefit from using Single Sign-On (SSO) technology, as it limits the number of interactions, they have with security systems and increases the probability that they will succeed in their legitimate attempts to access resources. The Federated Identity Management implemented with eduID.africa ensures greater control of user access. By identifying, authenticating and authorising users, as well as prohibiting unauthorised users, eduID.africa security boosts the efficiency and effectiveness of resources access management across multiple RENs,’ says Yousef Torman, Managing Director, ASREN.
This milestone activates collaboration possibilities among researchers and students, higher education institutions, and national research and education networks across Africa and beyond.
Joining eduGAIN is a win-win for all stakeholders in the eduID.africa ecosystem. Students and researchers will access valuable content and resources. Participating institutions will become attractive to students because of the value of eduID.africa offers, while service providers will have a large market for distribution.