A network service for the benefit of research and education in Europe, eduroam gives members of this community access to the Internet at scientific institutions all around the world. Once configured, the connection works regardless of the user's location. This service has just been improved by the international eduroam R&D team, led by the RESTENA Foundation in Luxembourg, in order to facilitate its implementation within smaller institutions.
In service since 2008, eduroam has been developed within the European GÉANT project, co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the European national research and education networks (NREN). In Luxembourg, the RESTENA Foundation acts as the NREN. Within the GÉANT project, its main role for the eduroam service is to coordinate and support the service to nominated technical contacts of participating organisations, to maintain links with the European and world-wide eduroam community and their authentication servers, and to contribute to the further development of the eduroam concept.
Overcoming technical barriers
As one of the developers of the eduroam concept, the RESTENA Foundation was instrumental in setting up the eduroam Managed IdP service. This service was launched in early 2019 within the eduroam service portfolio. It offers a simple web-based interface with the idea to simplify eduroam integration within smaller institutions. “We have put eduroam into a browser window” said Stefan Winter, a research engineer at the Foundation RESTENA during his presentation at TNC19, the annual European research and education networking conference by GÉANT organized this year in Tallinn, Estonia.
Till now, eduroam implementation was a complex technical task for many organizations, particularly the small ones. Lack of resources or in-house knowledge or simply too few users that could benefit of the technology meant that some organizations were not able to participate. Thanks to the new eduroam Managed IdP service, eligible interested institutions do no longer have the obligation to setup a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server for their connection to eduroam, a real simplification for technical staff!
An ever-growing service for research and education
Throughout the years, eduroam attracted ever more users. Today in no less than 101 countries, thousands of educational and research institutions and millions of users across the world are using the network. All benefit from an easy-to-use, secure, free WiFi access around the world.
In Luxembourg, eduroam access can be found in the participating research and education institutions, of which University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, Luxembourg Institute of Health, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Lycée technique d'Ettelbruck, Service National de la Jeunesse (SNJ), Centre Information Jeunesse, Institut Supérieur de l’Economie, Computer Incident Response Center Luxembourg and many more. eduroam can also be found in many places throughout the country such as the Luxembourg city, the airport, etc. The full list of hotspots can be found on the eduroam.lu website.
>> Any educational or research institutions in Luxembourg not connected yet to eduroam network but interested in the solution are invited to contact the RESTENA Foundation
Fondation RESTENA
E-mail: feedback@eduroam.lu