Ohio pilots Federated Identity for colleges and K-12

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Oct 14, 2013) — 

Ohio’s research and education network and several colleges and universities in the state are piloting projects to allow K-12 and community college students, faculty and staff to access multiple online resources with the credentials issued by their institution.

The projects are part of a national initiative of the Quilt, a national coalition of advanced regional networks for research and education, and Internet2, an advanced networking consortium led by the research and education community.

Ohio participants in the pilot include the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), Eastern Gateway Community College, Owens Community College, Rio Grand Community College and University of Rio Grande. OARnet is the statewide networking services organization that serves Ohio’s education, health care, public broadcasting and government communities.

“Our participation in the pilot gave us a real appreciation for the complexity of implementing a user-friendly portal that does not require multiple authentication,” said Jim McGrail, vice president for business services at Eastern Gateway Community College, an OARnet client. “Participating in this pilot has been tremendously beneficial to the college and has allowed us to give our students and faculty a hassle free user experience. ”

Participants will draw on the experience of Internet2’s InCommon, the U.S. provider of federated identity and access management for research and higher education. The pilot will look at policies, business processes and the technology that allows for this secure and privacy-preserving convenient method of accessing protected cloud services.

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Editor’s Note: For more information on the national program, visit https://spaces.internet2.edu/display/InCQuiltFed/Home.

 

The Ohio Technology Consortium (OH-TECH) was established in 2011 to serve as the research and technology arm of the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR), offering innovative technology resources and services for Ohio higher education, K-12 schools and state and local government. OH-TECH leverages the strengths and increases operational efficiency of each member organization: the Ohio Academic Resources Network (OARnet), the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), the Ohio Library Information Network (OhioLINK) and eStudent Services. For more, visit www.oh-tech.org. 

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