To promote both access and security in a world transformed by COVID-19, digital identity is becoming a foundational feature of higher education learning models. The COVID-19 pandemic has driven changes in college education that are likely to continue after the virus subsides.
Source: Digital Identity Creates Education Resilience at USC
Hybrid learning models combining in-person instruction with online delivery have gained considerable momentum in recent months as faculty, staff, and students have become familiar with online engagement in virtual classrooms.
While hybrid learning models may face many refinements to improve the college experience broadly, many stakeholders are taking note of the flexibility and efficiency of online learning. This may drive a greater interest in digital identity initiatives across college campuses—to promote improved access to a range of campus offerings and services while enhancing security for newly defined perimeters and fostering a sense of trust.
Digital identity involves the use of a single username and multifactor authentication to enable access to many applications and resources while reducing security risk. It integrates the user journey and consolidates the data around a user, credentials, privacy, and applications associated with that person. It also permits authorized stakeholders to obtain seamless, secure access to an organization’s network and cloud-based resources, and, importantly, to collaborate across those domains. Digital identity is a point of trust for user access and creates a new perimeter in place of network firewalls as more students work and collaborate from locations outside of the traditional campus and network perimeter.
Darren Yamaki, director of identity and access management at the University of Southern California (USC), says the impact of rapid movements to remote school and work arrangements brought about many security and access ramifications for higher education institutions. Universities had to adapt quickly to online classes and consider how to secure digital collaboration among students and faculty, some of whom were located in other countries. This led to challenges with respect to how to navigate regional and national privacy laws and foster a sense of community while creating immersive experiences.
“The virus’s disregard for national borders paralleled and exacerbated the disruption of traditional network perimeter security,” says Yamaki. “The conventional enterprise network perimeter was effectively eliminated, prompting IT security to rethink how data and applications can be secured.”
Digital Identity on Campus
At USC, digital identity became the new perimeter and crystalized new requirements for distance education, including enabling a positive digital experience and building trust during the pandemic. “The lessons learned and effective practices adopted during this crisis have created a foundation for organizations that want to emerge resilient from the pandemic,” says Naresh Persaud, a managing director with Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory at Deloitte & Touche LLP.
Software applications have defined the new brand experience for colleges and universities, and it extends to not only students and faculty but parents, staff, and research institutions that collaborate with universities, says Yamaki. “The digital identity strategy must be holistic, protecting many stakeholder groups and mitigating their security risks while making access frictionless,” he says.
For USC, improving access meant reducing redundant IT systems, which allowed multi-sign-on entry to give way to single sign-on entry. Talent management moved into the foreground, focused on getting requisite IT skills to support the technology and scale identity operations. Staff, faculty, parents, and students found connection and community through online applications, and the IT department found ways to provide access more quickly.
To secure users from the inside out, USC expanded two-factor authentication and offered password managers and anti-malware applications, says Yamaki. “The mission expanded from securing the campus to securing the person wherever he or she is,” he says. “That meant securing digital presence became a priority.”
Enabling personalization became a higher priority. For example, more students wanted to control how much information others could see about them, and many demonstrated a greater interest in personal privacy. This required the university to enable more self-service and better ways to capture and respect personal preference. “One of the most popular personalization requests was the ability to modify personal pronouns,” says Yamaki.
Future Pathways for Education
Digital identity enables secure access and collaboration not only for current students but also former students, cementing continued connection with alumni and support networks long after graduation. This enables students to become ambassadors for the university, enhancing its brand.
The pace of acquisition and adoption of technology in higher education in response to the near-instantaneous shift to virtual instruction, work, and engagement on college campuses has been breathtaking, including the rapid adoption of digital credentials, virtual proctoring, hybrid classroom technologies, expanded ERP capabilities, cloud, software-as-a-service solutions, and greater online collaboration.
As college and university leaders consider the future of education, digital identity may become key to enabling universities to share coursework, offer multi-degree programs, or engage with students who cannot physically attend classes on campus, says Persaud. “As an example, some universities could collaborate more broadly to offer common prerequisite coursework, or students might seek opportunities with universities that would otherwise be inaccessible due to cost or geography,” he says.
Digital identity may also offer solutions to evolving privacy regulations, especially with students widely dispersed across many states and countries, adds Persaud. The technology can allow universities to connect users to their information in many applications so data privacy needs are addressed.
The effort to adapt to a new environment with an undefined perimeter reinforced and strengthened the USC IT department’s culture, which focuses on collaboration, compassion, and community to forge new solutions, says Yamaki. “This experience has demonstrated that we can rely on our human connections and experiences while using digital technology to collaborate and build resilience,” he says.
Jennifer Ahn, partner and Higher Education leader, and Amit Gandre, managing director and Higher Education Cyber Risk leader, both with Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory, Deloitte & Touche LLP, contributed to this article.[wsj-responsive-related-content id=”0″]
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