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On May 17, 2012, the OpenID Foundation Japan Student Identity Trust Framework WG held “Trust Framework Seminar vol. 2: Use Student IDs to Provide Online Student-Discount Services” to present its results. The speakers were Professor Motonori Nakamura of the National Institute of Informatics and Shingo Yamanaka of OpenID Foundation Japan.

In today’s digital society, trust-based student ID management is becoming increasingly important. This article introduces the Student Identity Trust Framework (SITF) presented at the seminar, its significance, international trends, and future potential.

What Is a Trust Framework?

This framework aims to provide online student discounts using student IDs and securely distribute student attribute information. SITF comprises the following stakeholders.

  • Policy Maker
  • Trust Framework Provider
  • Identity Provider
  • Relying Party
  • Accredited Auditor
  • General User

This deepens connections between educational institutions and companies and enables trusted services for students.

International Trends and Developments

Trust frameworks have already attracted international attention, with various initiatives underway.

  • United States: Public-private collaboration is advancing through Open Identity for Open Government, NSTIC, and other initiatives.
    • Government: Open Identity for Open Government
      • FICAM under the General Services Administration (GSA)
    • Private sector: National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC)
      —Department of Commerce and NIST
    • Academia: InCommon
  • Other Countries: Canada, the Netherlands, Austria, and others are considering national ID systems.
  • Davos Forum: “Re-thinking Parsonal Data” Project
  • International Standardization: Standardization discussions are underway at ISO and ITU-T.
  • Japan
    • NII GakuNin

These initiatives are expected to promote international adoption of trust frameworks.

Student Identity Trust Framework (SITF): Examples and Future

Against this background, the Student Identity Trust Framework (SITF) is attracting attention.

In this framework:

  • Online proof of student status is issued;
  • recipient organizations can use university-issued, signed attribute information; and
  • provide student-discount services.

These and other use cases are envisioned.

This can create new educational and service businesses, such as buying software or tickets at student discounts.

Security and Reliability of Student ID Management

Reliability increases when the distribution of student attribute information is managed optimally.

  • Attribute-information distribution: Universities manage signed attribute information.
  • Reliability checks: GakuNin handles personal-information protection and safeguards user rights.
  • Industry-academia collaboration: Stronger university-company cooperation improves educational and research environments.

Future Outlook

Introducing SITF will enable excellent student services and improve trust on the Internet. It is also expected to create a platform for innovation connecting education and business.

Services such as online student discounts may soon become reality. This will undoubtedly constitute a new form of industry-academia collaboration.

SITF is not merely a technological innovation, but important infrastructure linking future learning and society. OpenID Foundation Japan created the Student Identity Trust Framework WG to examine these issues. Let us watch future developments.

Student Identity Trust Framework WGAbout the

This is a joint working group with the National Institute of Informatics (NII), established under the Trust Framework Working Group. By building a trust framework linking academia and private business and handling student status online, it makes presenting a student ID possible on the Internet. Envisioned use cases include student discounts for digital newspapers, e-books, software, and travel tickets, as well as credit-card contracts.

Principal Activities

  • Publishing policies for assuring attribute information
  • Considering real services using SITF and recruiting pilot participants

Deliverables / Presentation Materials

20120517trustfwnakamurayamanaka-120517173201-phpapp01

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