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This document, titled “Integration of the GakuNin System and Student Discount Services,” is presentation material from 2016 by BIGLOBE Inc. and the Japan Institute for Promotion of Digital Economy and Community (JIPDEC). It explains how student discount services can be implemented using GakuNin and the role of the trust framework provider that supports them.

Introduction

As university students, have you ever struggled to prepare a copy of your student ID or a certificate when using a student discount service? University staff may also spend considerable time issuing certificates to students. BIGLOBE Inc. and JIPDEC are working to implement student discount services integrated with GakuNin to solve these problems.

Current Challenges

Challenges for Students

Students currently face the following challenges.

  • Dealing with different methods of proving eligibility for each service provider
  • Complicated application procedures, including paper-based processes
  • Difficulty finding services that offer student discounts
  • Concerns about providing personal information

Challenges for Universities

Students are not the only ones facing challenges. Universities also face the following issues.

  • Administrative costs of issuing evidence to students
  • Complexity of supporting overseas services
  • Determining which student discount services to recommend

Student discount services integrated with GakuNin provide the answer to these challenges.

A New Form of Student Discount Service Through GakuNin Integration

Conventional Student Discount Service Process

Conventional student discount services involved the following steps.

  1. Prepare evidence, such as obtaining a certificate or copying a student ID (a time-consuming and inconvenient manual process)
  2. Send the evidence to the service provider (time-consuming, whether mailed or delivered in person)
  3. The service provider verifies the evidence (manual verification takes time, and there is also the basic question of how it should be verified)
  4. Use the student discount service (finally…)

This is clearly cumbersome.

New Process with GakuNin Integration

By contrast, the new GakuNin-integrated process is simplified and accelerated as follows.

  1. Access the student discount service online
  2. Authenticate with a GakuNin ID
  3. Use the student discount service

Verification is completed almost instantly in real time, providing access to the service.

Benefits of the New System

Benefits for Students

The benefits for students are substantial and include the following.

  • No need to send evidence separately to each service provider
  • Less time spent preparing evidence
  • Easy access to more student discount services

Benefits for Universities

Universities also receive the following benefits.

  • Reduced administrative costs for issuing evidence to students
  • Proof of student status without disclosing student attribute information externally

Role of the Trust Framework Provider (TFP)

Ensuring the trustworthiness of participating companies and services is essential for people to use services with confidence. JIPDEC therefore serves as the trust framework provider and performs the following roles:

  • Support for bringing GakuNin member universities and student discount service providers (RPs) into the same framework
  • Development of policies that participating companies must follow
  • Ensuring the security of services and federated data

What Is an Identity Federation Trust Framework?

It is a framework in which companies that exchange user data and services over the Internet follow common rules, ensuring a state in which users can trust that group of companies to handle their information.

Key Features

  • Ensuring transparency
  • Thorough information protection
  • Standardization of security criteria

Benefits for Users

  • Improved security by reducing the number of IDs and passwords to manage
  • Less effort required for identity verification
  • Greater transparency about recipients of information
  • Visibility into service providers’ security levels

Benefits for Service Providers

  • Reduced burden of managing authentication information
  • Prospect of increased user numbers
  • Improved user convenience
  • Elimination of unnecessary collection of personal information

Path to Implementation

Steps for Building the Framework

The steps for building the framework include the following.

  1. Develop rules that participating companies must follow
  2. Create common terms of use
  3. Recruit participating companies

Importance of Unified Rules

It is also important to gain users’ trust by unifying the rules that service providers promise to customers and standardizing how data is used and the applicable security criteria.

Conclusion

Student discount services integrated with GakuNin are an innovative initiative that significantly reduces the burden on both students and universities. A trust framework ensures security and reliability while enabling a more convenient student life.

This initiative is attracting attention not merely as a way to streamline student discount services, but also as part of promoting digitalization in Japanese society. The government is gradually advancing digitalization through initiatives such as My Number Cards and electronic maternal and child health handbooks, and this GakuNin integration effort may serve as a forerunner.

University personnel who are interested should contact BIGLOBE Inc.

This blog post is based on presentation material from GakuNin CAMP on October 17, 2016 by BIGLOBE Inc. and JIPDEC.

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