We are proud to share that eduroam has been named by the NWO, the Dutch Research Council, as one of the thirteen Dutch brilliant breakthroughs of the past 75 years that have helped both the Netherlands and the rest of the world to move forward.
Created in 2002 by Klaas Wierenga, eduroam started as a simple idea: make Wi-Fi secure, easy, and free for students and researchers, wherever they go. Today, eduroam connects people at almost 40,000 locations in 106 countries all over the world — from universities, schools and research centres to hospitals, libraries, museums, airports, buses and trains, city centres and public spaces. Over 8.4 billion authentications in 2024 show just how far that simple idea has reached.
José van Dijck, Professor of Media and Digital Society at Utrecht University: “As a researcher, I think it’s the best invention since sliced bread: I can log in to Wi-Fi anywhere in the world with my Utrecht ID – securely, effortlessly and at no cost. Whether I’m in Groningen or Tokyo. Not only is it a brilliant technical system, but the principle behind it – sharing facilities among public institutions – has been widely emulated worldwide.”
This recognition celebrates not only the technical innovation and global impact of eduroam, but also the efforts of all the organisations and individuals across the research and education networking community who contributed to eduroam’s development, operations, and global adoption.
The article ‘Brilliant breakthroughs’, included in a special 75th anniversary edition of the NWO Magazine ‘Onderzoek’, is also available in English at: https://www.nwo.nl/en/75-years-of-world-class-science
