Statement of purpose
The true value of eduroam increases with its ubiquity. eduroam in every primary and secondary educational institution, library, and public space boosts the value proposition of the service immensely and regional networks and community anchor institutions present a unique and powerful partner to address this scaling issue. At the same time, this helps make community services, and the community that provides them, more sticky. K12s, as well as libraries and museums that are part of the K12 ecosystem, have thus far been underserved by eduroam in the US. eduroam Support Organizations (eSOs) leverage their existing relationships with K12s, libraries, and museums to address this need.
To better enable eduroam Support Organizations to serve these communities, Internet2 provides the eSOs with a simplified business model, training and resources to build the expertise of their staff, and ongoing support.
Key responsibilities of eduroam Support organizations include:
- Provisioning service for new K12, library, and museum constituents
- Ongoing first level support for constituents
- Providing an inventory of constituents
- Participate in collaborative meetings with other participants. Discuss feedback, requests, program ideas with the eduroam Support Organization community
For an idea of what statewide deployments might look like for a eduroam Support Organization, we encourage you to read the annual reports generated by the program participants and Internet2:
- UETN/Internet2 Statewide K12 eduroam Program Case Study
- eduroam Support Organization Status Report 2021
- eduroam Support Organization Status Report 2022
On-Ramp - positioning organizations for success
The On-Ramp is aimed at organizations interested in joining the program but needing time to prepare for full participation - e.g. they have a smaller number of schools that are interested in eduroam at the moment, need time to lay the groundwork for a statewide deployment, etc. An On-Ramp eduroam Support Organization can sign the eSO agreement with an On-Ramp Amendment. During this time they can participate with limited program features for an initial ramp period where they can sign up to five K12 districts, libraries, museums, or hotspots. During this time all program fees are waived. After spending the ramp-up period working with their pilot schools and gearing up for statewide deployments they will join the next Support Organization cohort. There’s no need to sign additional agreements – "On-Rampers" will automatically become a full eduroam Support Organization, and will be invoiced at their state’s rate. If they decide the program isn’t for them, they are free to opt out and spin down their pilot schools with no further obligation.
Adding new participants to eduroam Support Organizations
2023 Cohort - Call for applications
Internet2 opened its call for applicants for the 2023 eduroam Support Organization cohort on Tuesday, March 28th. A webinar was held where the program participants report out on their progress over 2022 and prospective participants could learn more about joining the 2023 cohort. You can view the recording of the webinar here. A publicly viewable copy of the slide deck can be found here. If you you have additional questions about the eduroam Support Organization, contact the program manager Mike Zawacki (mzawacki@internet2.edu). Proposals were collected on April 28th, with cohort planning beginning the following month. The Nevada System of Higher Education and Washington's K20 Network submitted proposals to join the On-Ramp and were accepted into the program.
How To Join - Planning Tool for potential eduroam Support Organizations
Those interested in joining upcoming eduroam Support Organization Cohorts are expected to submit a plan for the deployment of eduroam K12 organizations within their state. The plans are to include what percentage of the total K12 organizations the plan supports, who would be deploying the required supporting infrastructure, a description of their infrastructure and how a candidate intends to create a sustainable support model. The plans will be judged by the below criteria. Feedback will be provided on each submitted plan.
We ask that eduroam Support Organization candidates respond to each requirement and describe their organization's positioning for each. The top row shows how each High/Medium/Low readiness level is defined. These requirements will also be weighted. For example, a candidate’s response for “Serve K12s, libraries, museums” will carry a higher value than their response to “Using eduroam internally”. When you're ready to submit your proposal, email it to help@incommon.org
| Organizational Requirements | High | Medium | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
Serve K12s, libraries, museums | Directly engages with these communities to provide network and other services. Directly connected to Internet2 and/or is the state's educational network | Has partnered with another organization or state government entity which engages with these communities to provide network and other services. Connects to Internet2 through another state network | No direct engagement with these communities |
Can ensure its constituents and their users abide by terms of agreement | Existing contracts with K-12 in state/region, can sign agreements on behalf of K-12 | Some contracts for services provided to K-12s in state/region | No vehicle for monitoring compliance |
Using eduroam internally | Yes | Rolling eduroam out | Joining now |
Additional factors which make your organization a good fit for the program | All/most of the “Medium” and… Experience with IAM, partnership or operational connection with state educational departments | Engagement on Regional calls, Existing relationship with Internet2 (e.g. network connection, participation in CAP, NET+ service engagements…) | N/A |
Planning Requirements | High | Medium | Low |
Roll-out team and roles identified and have cycles | Staff time is allocated in the following areas: help desk, identity management, wireless, documentation, and communication leads | Staff time is allocated in the following areas: help desk, identity management, wireless | Identified roles but are still assembling their team |
Early adopters identified and agree to take part in the plan | Adopters have piloted service and/or demonstrated interest | Provides a list of schools/districts that have expressed willingness to adopt | Provides list of possible adopters |
One or more eduroam pilots/implementations completed within your community | Existing contracts in place and implemented | One or more of your community members are in the process of provisioning service | None of your community members currently using eduroam |
High | Medium | Low | |
Wired network infrastructure
| More than 90% of the constituents meet the criteria | 60-89% of the constituents meet the criteria | Fewer than 60% of the constituents meet the criteria |
802.1x compliant wireless infrastructure
| More than 90% of the constituents meet the criteria | 60-89% of the constituents meet the criteria | Fewer than 60% of the constituents meet the criteria |
Identity store
| More than 90% of the constituents meet the criteria | 60-89% of the constituents meet the criteria | Fewer than 60% of the constituents meet the criteria |
RADIUS Server
| More than 90% of the constituents meet the criteria | 60-89% of the constituents meet the criteria | Fewer than 60% of the constituents meet the criteria |