New registration portal enables automatic strong identification of students
The new registration portal of the Ģֱ facilitates the strong identification of foreign students. The development work for the new portal was carried out during 2020–2021, and the results will also simplify the work of Student Services. With the automatic identification system, students no longer need to be identified via a separate video call or face-to-face meeting, because the students can identify themselves as part of the course registration.
“Our international study offering is growing, so the new registration portal makes it possible for us to receive even larger numbers of students. Students can identify reliably and securely when registering for the courses,” says Mirva Huovinen, Manager at the Open University of the Ģֱ. She was involved in the development process of the registration portal.
The Signicat authentication system is used to verify the customer's identity. According to Huovinen, the same identification tool is used not only by some higher education institutions, but also by a few Finnish banks.
Safety and good user experience for the customer
The planning work for the new registration portal began in spring 2020 at the Open University, and the portal was finalised for use a year later. JYU's Digital Services were responsible for the technical design and implementation.
The goal was to make the new registration portal a simple and easy-to-use tool for the customer, while also being reliable, secure and allowing for strong authentication. Several different systems were integrated into the entire portal, of which Signicat is one. This way, the customer does not have to go to different sites, but rather the process takes place smoothly in one place.
“In practice, the client goes from the course website via the registration link to the portal. If the customer does not yet have a JYU user ID, they will first register their information, and concurrently they can identify themselves in a wizard, which means presenting an identity document and passing face recognition. All you need is a passport or other identity card, a good camera and adequate lighting to identify yourself,” says Mirva Huovinen.
The process is very safe for both the client and the university, tells Huovinen. The online services of the Ģֱ are well protected, and the data stored in connection with identification is removed from Signicat at regular intervals.
The new system will also be utilised in the strong identification of incoming exchange students for the degree programmes of the Ģֱ.
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Further questions
Manager Mirva Huovinen
mirva.e.huovinen@jyu.fi