By 2025 all Erasmus-participants will have safe and secure access to digital campus services and local eGovernance applications at their target destination. For eIDAS only their national ID will be recquired for full access.

Background

One goal of the EU is to create a common sense of togetherness in Europe. A key factor in shaping an European identity among the future generation is the Erasmus student mobility program: In more than three decades it has facilitated the mobility of millions of students across the continent.
Unfortunately most bureaucratic tasks regarding Erasmus-stays are still moored in the pre-digital past.

This is about to change.
The Digital Education Action Plan adopted by the European Commission in 2018 aims (among other things) to bring the EU member-states' education area up to date in terms of digitalization. In this regard, the Plan relies on the existing "electronic identification, authentication and trust services"-standard (eIDAS). This ensures cross border compatibility on the one hand and state of the art IT-security on the other hand.
StudIES+ is a that combines the Action Plan's general goals and ambitions with the specific use-cases of student-life and student-mobility.

The project StudIES+

Since student-life is varied and diverse, StudIES+ takes a three-pronged approach to its digitalization. Each approach identifies a set of tasks and/or workflows that are still largely taken care off in an analog manner. Each set, though, has different requirements concerning identification and authentication. To properly digitalize student-life, StudIES+ has developed a bespoke solution for each set – the three pillars of StudIES+.

The pillars showcase different approaches to digital identity corresponding to the specific needs – each weighing speed, convenience and security. Starting point for each approach is the student’s national ID, thus guaranteeing the highest standard for authenticity. Building up from that, StudIES+ takes several forms.

Pillar 1 – HEI-processes & eID:

Keeping track of students’ IDs and organizing HEI workflows concerning student-identities (e.g. attendance). Pillar 1 digitally connects HEI workflows with students’ personal IDs. More details about Pillar 1

Pillar 2 – Student Identity & derived ID:

Many day-to-day student-activities do not require intense security checks for each application. Small transactions in the cafeteria or checking out library-books instead need to be hassle-free, convenient and fast. For this, StudIES+ is bringing a derived ID to the student’s smart phone. Once activated with the national ID, this serves as an everyday tool. More details about Pillar 2

Pillar 3 – Contracts, documents & eSignature:

Rental agreements, work-contracts and government administration require signatures. Bringing easy and secure signatures to the digital sphere has its host of specific challenges. However, in an age where it is just not practicable to be physically present for every signature, StudIES+ is tackling digital signatures for aspects relevant to student life. In keeping with the newest security-standards, eSignatures conforms to all eIDAS requirements like timestamps. Unlocking signature functions by providing national ID and a certificate of student-status, eSignature provides students with all means necessary to handle the contractual side of their Erasmus-stays online. More details about Pillar 3

To ensure maximum accessibility to all of StudIES+’s use-cases terminals will be deployed in universities where students can activate the services using their national IDs. The terminals provide all hardware needed.

Studies+ is a consortium headed by Francotyp-Postalia Holding AG consisting of two HEIs and three companies, sharing between them decades of experience in IT-security and document processing solutions.