The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for digital transformation in Nigerian higher education with a growing number of resources essential for learning, teaching and research having to move online. A consistent and scalable approach to identity and access management (IAM) is therefore a vital requirement to make this happen successfully and securely.
Eko-Konnect Research and Education Initiative is hosting a meeting of stakeholders on this crucial issue in Nigerian higher education, themed: “Identity and Access Management to enable Digital Transformation of Education in Nigeria“.
Globally, federated identity is a recognised enabler for education. In the federated identity model, identities in an institution are used within the campus as well as across multiple domains, including cloud services, by using an Identity Provider. Institutions can choose which digital identities and services to include in an identity federation, and the digital identity attributes to use, as long as these attributes adhere to a common standard published by the federation.
eduID.ng is the emerging identity and access federation for the Nigerian research and education community comprising higher education institutions, research institutes, schools and recognized stakeholder organizations who are users or producers of academic-related outputs. By establishing mutual operating rules and policy, participating institutions can utilize federated access among each other in a cloud-based trusted access management environment.
Objectives of the Meeting
- Highlight the need for Academic Identity (eduID) in higher education
- Understand the global eduID ecosystem and upcoming changes in Nigeria
- Understand the requirements for federation policy and joining the global eduGAIN interfederation
Target Audience: ICT Directors, IT Admin, Registrar/Registry Staff, and Network Administrators in Nigerian Higher Education and Research Institutes
Date: Wednesday, 18th November 2020 Time: 11:00 – 12:30
Agenda
11:00 – 11:05 – Welcome remarks – Owen Iyoha (MD, Eko-Konnect)
11:05 – 11:10 – Interactive participant poll on the current state of IAM in Nigeria
11:10 – 11:25 – Global trends in Higher Education Identity management – Peter Gietz (CEO, DAASI International)
11:25 – 11:40 – eduGAIN, the inter-federation service – Mario Reale (Senior Research Engagement and Support Officer, GÉANT)
11:40 – 12:00 – Q&A
12:00 – 12:25 – Drafting a federation policy and practice statement (Interactive Discussion) – Omo Oaiya (Chief Strategy Officer, WACREN)
12:25 – 12:30 – Closing – Prof. Charles Uwadia (Chair, Board of Trustees, Eko-Konnect)