On February 1st 2019 the University of Lucerne has made a big step. It is the first university that has completely switched over to the SWITCH edu-ID. All their roughly 4000 members use now their own secure, long-lived and user-centric SWITCH edu-ID account to access services relevant to the Swiss academic community.
The introduction of the edu-ID heralds a paradigm change in identity management for Swiss higher education. Users are getting more control over their personal data whereas universities can optimize their identity management processes. Fortunately, despite the fundamental architectural change, the impact on users is moderate.
“The migration to SWITCH edu-ID on 1 February 2019 went smoothly. Smaller problems after the migration were solved very quickly by SWITCH. Despite some obstacles in the course of the project, SWITCH provided us with competent support and assistance at all times.”
Marco Antonini, Head of IT
The first preliminary talks between University of Lucerne and SWITCH on edu-ID were held in September 2017. The idea behind the SWITCH edu-ID and, above all, the opportunities it offers in the future convinced the university right from the start. So they decided to change over relatively early. An important prerequisite, central user administration, was already in place, so that the concrete planning could be started.
As integration approach linking at registration was chosen for new students, and linking after admission for current members and future staff. With the integration of edu-ID in the organisational IT and the equipment of all members with an edu-ID identity the university has reached an important milestone. In a second step, further groups will be adressed namely alumni, auditors and further education students.
As the first organisation that completely changes over to SWITCH edu-ID, the university of Lucerne writes history. It can be rightfully proud of this achievement!