UQ students and staff to benefit from wireless network access at health facilities

Thousands of University of Queensland students and staff at major Queensland hospitals now have access to a high-speed secure wireless network, following yesterday’s launch of a new service.

Minister for Health The Honourable Lawrence Springborg MP officially launched the service, eduroam, at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) in Brisbane.

It is the result of a five-year collaborative effort between Queensland Health and Queensland universities – under the Queensland Regional Network Organisation (QRNO).

Eduroam is a secure international roaming service for users in higher education, with a series of participating universities and other institutions around the world supporting and providing access to this network.

University students and staff will be able to use their UQ usernames and passwords to gain secure wireless Internet access at eduroam-enabled Queensland Health facilities.

This will enable them to use UQ’s online resources including lecture notes, research papers and online libraries on their laptops, tablets and smartphones.

UQ’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Høj said the new service would enhance the research, and teaching and learning experience for UQ students and staff working and studying in the health field.

“The University has approximately 4000 staff based at various health sites in Queensland and more than 3000 students undertaking practicums in any given year for their health studies, so this service will have widespread benefits, ” Professor Høj said.

The new service also means that Queensland Health employees with an eduroam password can gain secure wireless Internet access at any UQ campus.

UQ, in conjunction with Australia's Academic and Research Network, will provide support technology for the eduroam service to operate across the Queensland Health network.

The eduroam service has already been released at the PAH, QEII, Robina, Mackay, Townsville and the Skills Development Centre at Herston, with future rollouts including Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital, The Prince Charles Hospital, Gold Coast University Hospital and the QLD Children’s Hospital.

For more information on eduroam, please visit http://www.its.uq.edu.au/eduroam

Media: Caroline Bird, UQ Communications on 07 3365 1931 or c.bird1@uq.edu.au

About Eduroam
Eduroam (EDUcational ROAMing) is a federated wireless access service provided in Australia by the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet). It allows university staff and student to use their home institution’s username and password to gain guest access at other eduroam-enabled institutions. Once connected, users can access their university’s IT resources and the Internet.