1. Valère Meus – Ghent University International Staff Week Ferrara The Erasmus without Paper Project

2. Context and problem area  Student mobility within the curriculum (credit exchange) is now an established practice in Europe (study periods and placements)  Erasmus+ is now going global  Large amounts of student data need to be exchanged in the process  Even though most of it is stored electronically, the exchange of data is still largely paper-based 2

3. Have you ever heard of EWP?  What is it supposed to do?  What positive impact might it have?  What might convince you to use it?  What could be its drawbacks? 3

4. Project goals  Design and work out a pilot for an integrated communication network supporting the exchange of student data 1 in an electronic form  Build connecting software modules that will allow Student Information Systems (SISs) with built-in mobility modules 2 and/or stand-alone Mobility systems to exchange data over the EWP Network. 1 data, not documents (eg. scanned copies), which can be processed automatically, stored in databases, used to create documents ²part of SIS that takes care of Bilateral Agreements, student applications, Learning Agreements, Transcript of Records and other documents 4

5. What processes are we talking about?  Setting up interinstitutional agreements between HEIs  The exchange of data connected with specific points in the exchange process  Student exchange applications  Nominations  Agreeing on Learning agreements  Host Transcripts of Records  Home Transcripts of Records (including grade conversion)  Arrival/Departure certificates etc …  Reporting student data (Mobility Tool) 5

6. Results of a a large questionnaire 1050 replies from 31 countries

7. Questionnaire  General findings:  Very high interest in EWP  IT platforms less used for data exchange than... snail mail  Local IT systems only modestly integrated  All steps of mobility are strong candidates for EWP integration  Centralised vs decentralised  EWP will also need to cater for department/faculty implementation rather than central IRO implementation  Process duplication  More prominent local procedures  Erasmus procedures just imitated to comply with rules

8. Actors involved  Who manages ERASMUS + in your organisation?  Who does what? 8

9. Where are the data?  Student Information Systems of HEIs or other (semi)commercial providers  International Student Information Systems (ISIS) (but: sometimes still Excel files!)  National student data repositories 9

10. Role of the students?  Who should be responsible for what in the data exchange? 10

11. How to solve the problem?  Create a network that will enable all the data repositories in whatever form to communicate with each other  Exchange data, not documents (e.g. scans)  Authentication and user identification and electronic signatures  Keep the data where they are, but make them accessible in a simple, reliable and secure way  Beware of the global developments (Groningen Declaration) 11

12. Project progress  State of work in June 2016  Use cases and recommendations for developers.  Design of architecture, security, data flow.  First versions of API specifications (under review by the project partners).  Data model and data format – work has started.  Soon  Design of data formats (data types for API parameters).  Registry available for testing.  Libraries for connectors. 12

13. Main tasks - 1  Describe all possible mobility scenarios  Create common data models and appropriate document formats for the exchanged info  Define the necessary transport protocols and standards  Take care of identity management (authentication and authorization methods) and create a register to handle users  Provide electronic signatures 13

14. Main tasks - 2  Look into security and privacy issues  Build connector modules (also generic) that allow data handling software to send and receive data over the network  Include extra tools to increase performance (e.g. grade conversion tool, …)  Look for synergies and collaboration 14

15. API specifications We have prepared first versions of API (Application Programming Interface) specifi- cations for all the developers interested in the system. You can find them on http://developers.erasmuswithoutpaper.eu/. The specifications are available publicly, so everyone can review them (not only the EWPpartners). Each release of these documents is assigned a version number, and is accompanied by release notes, describing what has changed. http://developers.erasmuswithoutpaper.eu/ 15

17. GitHub repository Internally, each of these documents is hosted in a separate GitHub repository and it being updated in similar fashion as programmers update their code. This means that external programmers can easily download their own copies of these documents and propose changes to them. If anyone from the audience is interested in integrating their own local computer systems with EWP, then we encourage you to assign one of your developers to have a look at our specifications. 17

19. Additional Information  EWP website: www.erasmuswithoutpaper.euwww.erasmuswithoutpaper.eu  GitHub: github.com/erasmus-without-papergithub.com/erasmus-without-paper  EWP for developers: developers.erasmuswithoutpaper.eu developers.erasmuswithoutpaper.eu Register for EWP Newsletter to keep in touch! www.Erasmuswithoutpaper.eu

20. Long-term aims  Set up an international organisation to manage the network, its exploitation, further development and integration of other products  Provide training and help for organisations joining the network  Assist organisations in using or adapting existing/generic connector modules  Uphold and update common standards where necessary 20

21. Who is involved?  Higher Education Institutes (HEIs)  (Semi-)public (I)SIS consortia  Commercial (I)SIS vendors  European Higher Education Networks  Student Organisations  National data repositories  Groningen Declaration affiliated organisations  Related projects 21

22. Partners  Universiteit Gent, Belgium  Asociación Grupo Santander, Spain (Brussels)  European University Foundation - Campus Europae, Luxemburg  Universitetet I Oslo (+FS), Norway  Uniwersytet Warszawski (+ Muci), Poland  Umea Universitet (+ Ladok), Sweden  Universidade do Porto, Portugal  Erasmus Student Network, ESN, Belgium  Kion Spa (+S3), Italy  SOP Hilmbauer & Mauberger GmbH & Co KG, Austria,  SIGMA Gestion Universitaria AIE, Spain 22

23. Other consortium members 23  University of Essex, UK  Framework Computer Consultants Limited, Ireland  University of Aveiro, Portugal  National Student Clearinghouse, United States  Grupo Compostela de Universidades, Spain  European Association of Erasmus Coordinators,Cyprus  European Association for International Education, Netherlands  RESEAU DES UNIVERSITES DES CAPITALES DE L'EUROPE (Unica), Belgium  QS unisolution GmbH, Germany  UNIVERSIDAD DE MALAGA,Spain  AHOVOS/DHO, Belgium  Groningen Declaration, Netherlands

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25. Valère Meus, project co-ordinator Anthony Vickers, external evaluator www.Erasmuswithoutpaper.eu valere.meus@ugent.be vicka@essex.ac.uk Thank you for your attention!