By Mike Zawacki - Interenet2 Program Manager
2022 eduroam Support Organization Status Report Highlights Growth
At the end of every year, eduroam Support Organizations (eSOs) and Internet2 come together to develop an annual status report for the community. The report outlines the goals, challenges, successes, and lessons learned for the eSOs and Internet2. This annual exercise provides a window for the larger community into what participation in the eSO program looks like, particularly for those interested in joining future cohorts. The 2022 eduroam Support Organization Status Report has been completed and is now available to the community.
Five organizations contributed to the 2022 report. Last year marked the second year of participation for eSOs Network Nebraska and The Sun Corridor Network and the third for the Utah Telehealth and Education Network (UTEN). Internet2 also added a new feature to the program in 2022, the On-Ramp. Designed to allow a prospective eSO to try the program on a limited basis for no cost, the On-Ramp gives a prospective eSO an opportunity to develop the support structures and internal infrastructure to successfully deploy eduroam to K12s, libraries, and museums in their states. Both Link Oregon and Connecticut Education Network (CEN) participated in the On-Ramp.
Key Outcomes
2022 was a busy year for the eduroam Support Organizations. There are now more than 280 K12 institutions using eduroam, representing the fastest growing segment of the eduroam community in the US. Participants racked up a number of successes. Here are just a few of the highlights:
- Nebraska
- Brought on 156 School Districts (covering 64% of all districts in Nebraska)
- Deployed nine SP-only sites at local Businesses
- Partnered with local ISP to create SP-only sites at community centers and other public spaces
- Arizona
- Deployed three initial pilot districts
- Started proof of concept for eduroam enabled LTE hotspots
- Utah
- Nearly all school districts in Utah have now deployed eduroam
- Brought up more than 50 new SP-Only locations including numerous state parks, DMV offices, and other state government facilities.
- Launched “eduroam2go” – repurposing network gear to provide turnkey eduroam hotspots
- Oregon
- Completed On-Ramp, joined as full Support Organization
- Recruited nine school districts to lead eduroam deployment
- Connecticut
- Deployed eduroam at four pilot school districts
- Promoted eduroam within Connecticut’s K12 community at annual member conference
Get the Full Report
You can read more of the report online.
Learn More about the eSO Program
To learn more about the eduroam Support Organization Program, visit our website. You can also find information about the eduroam Support Organization cohort, and how to join, on the program’s wiki.
About the eduroam Support Organization Program
The true value of eduroam increases with its ubiquity. eduroam in every primary and secondary educational institution, library, and public space boosts the value proposition of the service immensely and regional networks and community anchor institutions present a unique and powerful partner to address this scaling challenge. At the same time, we can help make community services, and the community that provides them, more sticky. K12s as well as libraries and museums that are part of the K12 ecosystem have thus far been underserved by eduroam in the U.S. eduroam Support Organizations (eSOs) leverage their existing relationships with K12s, libraries, and museums to address this need.
ICYMI
And Then There Were 5: Internet2 Announces New eduroam Support Organizations