Page 22 - Campus Security & Life Safety, January 2018

COLLEGE CAMPUSES
TO THE CLOUD
Moving all the elements to a centralized and integrated system By Robin Tandon
The way ID cards are used on college and university campuses has changed dramatically in recent years. Once a simple iden- tification tool, campus ID cards now provide the means to purchase meals, check out library books, enter dorm rooms and more.
The way they are issued, however, isn’t much different today than it was two decades ago, by using one or more PCs each connected to a nearby printer. Now universities are making a shift to cloud-based solutions that will enable a new remote card issuance experience, transform ID card printers into edge devices within the Internet of Trusted Things (IoTT) and redefine the economics of card issuance by ushering in new service-based models.
IMPROVED USER EXPERIENCE
Traditionally, ID cards are designed and printed from a PC that is con- nected to a nearby printer. Someone must be physically present at the PC to design the card, use the student ID database to encode data on the card and send the card to a printer. More recently, some suppliers have added a piece of locally installed software that enables web-based design and in some cases a certain level of encoding work.
In contrast, a true cloud-based platform brings all of the elements
required for secure issuance into a centralized and integrated system that enables the entire process to be managed and executed remotely, from design and encoding to printing. An administrator in a card office at the main campus or any satellite facility or other remote loca- tion, for example, can seamlessly create new cards, encode data on them, issue replacements and manage print queues. This can all be accomplished through one trusted system using a tablet, laptop or any device with a web interface.
This cloud-based model improves the user experience by enabling instant issuance at many different locations, rather than requiring a visit to the main card office in order to pick up an ID. Card printers can be installed anywhere, including remote offices and satellite campuses, and cards can be sent to any of these printers. Printers essentially become smart, secure, web-enabled edge devices in the IoTT that can leverage all of the platform’s functionality.
Security and privacy protection are both improved with the cloud- based model. There is end-to-end encryption of all sensitive data both in transit and at rest using banking-level encryption protocols. The use of digital certificates creates a trusted relationship between the cloud and the issuance console, and card data remains encrypted until it is printed, after which all personally identifiable information (PII) disap-
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