eduGAIN
eduGAIN is the global interfederation service of GÉANT, the umbrella organization of Europe's National Research and Education Networks (NRENs).
In October 2013, eduID.at joined eduGAIN, the GÉANT service that connects existing academic Identity Federations disregarding national borders and extends the scope of identities and the accessibility of services to all of Europe, and beyond.
International cooperation in the fields of research and education is ubiquitous, and so is the need for corresponding services. With eduGAIN, users of an institution in an Identity Federation can access web-based services of other institutions in other Identity Federations.
eduGAIN strives to interconnect all SAML-based academic Identity Federations worldwide. Accompanying policies and guidelines - especially regarding privacy and data protection - are being developed and tested within the frameworks of GÉANT and REFEDS (Research and Education Federations).
Further information is available at the eduGAIN website.
Erasmus+ & eduGAIN
The EU program Erasmus+ (which supports, among other things, study periods abroad) is increasingly being digitized. Therefore, identification and authentication of students is essential for the Erasmus+ personal administration tools - in particular for the Online Learning Agreement (OLA), which is mandatory for Erasmus mobilities from the 2021/22 academic year. From the European Commission's point of view, eduGAIN is currently the most feasible solution to implement the so-called European Student Identifier (ESI) in the OLA.
For Austria, the ACOnet Identity Federation / eduID.at participates in eduGAIN. ACOnet's participating organizations can therefore also join eduGAIN (via eduID.at) and thus enable their students to easily use the Erasmus+ administration tools.
Further information:
- Webinar "Erasmus+ & eduGAIN in Austria" (co-organized by OeAD and ACOnet on 25 November 2020)
- OeAD information on Erasmus+ and the European Student Card Initiative (ESCI)