Card, mobile credential, payment and security
Brandeis University has launched robot delivery from Kiwibot for students, faculty and staff on its Waltham, Mass. campus. Kiwibot's last-mile delivery service leverages semi-autonomous robots to drive students orders to designated delivery locations around campus.
According to a report from Wicked Local, Kiwibot will deliver food from a number of on-campus dining options, including Dunkin Donuts, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Mexican cantina Tres Habaneros, as well as some options that are exclusive to Kiwibot services.
One of the reasons behind Brandeis' deployment of robot delivery was the unexpected arrival of the pandemic, and a need to provide dining services beyond the normal options.
"We have seen over the pandemic, an increase of food delivery services on campus, and it's not unusual for those services to drive where they shouldn't. These are much more benign, much more campus friendly," said Lois Stanley, Brandeis vice president of Campus Planning and Operations, in a Wicked Local interview. "The pandemic taught us how important it is to have other options when it comes to dining and food delivery."
According to Brandeis University Dining Services, Kiwibot's robotic fleet is also supported by food-service provider Sodexo.
"This campus was the right fit, the high amount of retail, the size and scope of the campus. We are the first university in New England that has Kiwibots," said Mike Reilly, resident district manager for Sodexo.
As with other Kiwibot campus agreements, the Brandeis campus community can either pay a per-order fee, or sign up for one of Kiwibot's subscription plans:
The Kiwibot's delivery packages are optional and available for students, faculty, and staff to purchase. The delivery packages are non-transferrable, expire at the end of each semester, and leftover credits do not carry over.
To use the Kiwibot service, students open the Bite+ app on their smartphone, place an order from a participating vendor, and meet the robot at the chosen delivery location.
The average wait time for a delivery ranges from 20 to 35 minutes depending on distance and peak times. Students can use the Kiwibot service during all operating hours and operating areas on campus with no daily limit.
Trusted identity solutions provider, HID Global, has announced its new OMNIKEY Secure Element. The new secure element will be the successor to HID iCLASS SE Processor and will serve as the foundation for the company's new OMNIKEY Platform.
The OMNIKEY Secure Element will support applications in connected workplaces, healthcare environments, and education campuses. It is designed to deliver security extensions for reader devices across a number of connected business applications, including secure copy/print, visitor management, and time and attendance.
HID Global’s OMNIKEY Secure Element will succeed the iCLASS SE Processor and is the first step toward consolidating and optimizing the company’s desktop reader and reader module offerings. OMNIKEY will provide wider integration capabilities than the iCLASS SE Processor, while retaining compatibility with it at an API level for a simpler migration.
The single-chip OMNIKEY Secure Element represents a safe key for leveraging all the advantages of Seos credential technology, such as multi-application converged access on smartphones. It also supports other technologies from HID Global, such as iCLASS, and can be used for other card protocols such as MIFARE DESFire.
“OMNIKEY Secure Element is the first of many OMNIKEY rollouts that will make it easier to create secured and convenient experiences using one consolidated development system that speeds technology integration, improves performance and expands user choices,” says Thierry Roz, Managing Director, RFID Business Unit, Extended Access Technologies, HID Global.
“This latest addition underscores HID Global’s commitment to giving users secure yet effortless access to everything throughout the building and beyond," adds Roz. "We are excited to migrate our existing partners and customers onto this new platform as they continue their innovation journey with us.”
Significant technology features and benefits include:
HID has published additional information detailing the OMNIKEY Secure Element.
The Oklahoma Senate has approved a bill that would require colleges and universities in the state to print on either side of its student ID card the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline phone number, the Crisis Text Line, and the number for campus police or security. The measure in Oklahoma mirrors action being taken in other states, with regards to printing student resource numbers on campus cards.
According to an Oklahoma News 4 report, should the bill be passed into law it would go into effect on July 1, 2023. In addition to state universities and colleges, the bill will also apply to school districts and charter schools in the state that issue student identification cards to grades 7-12. For middle and high school student credentials, the bill similarly calls for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 988, and/or the Crisis Text Line to be printed on the card.
“Senate Bill 1307, upon its passage, will do some really good things,” says SB1307’s author, Senator Bill Coleman.
“Suicide among youth has been increasing steadily in recent years, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, nearly 40 kids in Oklahoma under the age of 17 tragically took their own lives,” says Sen. Coleman. “By having this phone number on their student ID, they have a daily reminder that they are not alone and there is always someone there for them.”
In a press release issued by Sen. Coleman, the State Department of Mental Health and Rehabilitative Services (ODMHRS) plans to launch 988 this summer. The Crisis Text Line on the IDs can be accessed by texting HOME to 741741.
“The Department of Mental Health is doing a great job getting the new 988 ready for Oklahoma,” says Sen. Coleman. “I think having a simple three-digit phone number will be easier to remember and use, and hopefully Oklahomans, especially our youth, will take advantage of this resource in their time of need.”
SB1307 passed on the Senate floor Tuesday, March 15 with a 39-4 vote. It will now head to the House for consideration.
There is not yet any specific information given regarding where on the student ID card the information needs to be printed, or the sizing or design.
A number of other states, including California, Washington, Wisconsin and Nebraska, have drafted and passed similar bills in recent years, all calling for crisis and support hotlines to be printed on student ID cards.
Allegion's business development manager for campus software partners, Jeff Koziol, discusses why universities should be interested in migrating to wireless locks in campus residence halls, and the benefits of going wireless and keyless at student doors.
Campus residences are among the most vital areas for a university to secure. The reality, however, is that legacy technologies remain widely utilized in these environments.
In this Chat, we talk about the value of moving toward more advanced, secure access technologies at student doors. We tackle the discussion through both a fiscal and safety lens, and discuss ways universities can begin to position for upgrades.
The University of Idaho has launched robot delivery on its Moscow, Idaho campus, partnering with Starship Technologies on the initiative. The robot delivery program is now live and available to Idaho students, faculty and staff.
According to an official university release, Starship's autonomous robots will deliver food from on-campus dining locations, including Qdoba, True Burger, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Cravings by Joe. The university has deployed a fleet of 15 Starship delivery robots.
“We’re excited to bring this service to a wide array of our dining options,” says Cami McClure, assistant vice president for Auxiliary Services at the University of Idaho. “The university community is eager for on-campus dining delivery and now, with Starship Technologies, we are able to offer a fun, fast and friendly way to deliver.”
U of I is the first institution in the state of Idaho to introduce a robot delivery service on campus. Students and employees will use the Starship Food Delivery app to order food and drinks to be delivered anywhere on campus. The delivery service works in conjunction with the Idaho Eats meal plans and Vandals may pay for Starship delivery orders using Dining Dollars.
The app allows users to watch the robot’s journey in real time through an interactive map. Once the robot arrives, the student will receive an alert to meet the robot and unlock it through the app. Delivery is usually fulfilled in a matter of minutes, depending on the menu items ordered and the distance the robot must travel.
“We are very pleased to expand our services to Idaho,” says Ryan Tuohy, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Sales at Starship Technologies. "We think the entire campus community will love seeing the robots roaming around campus and appreciate the convenience of on-demand deliveries, whether that means skipping long lines, sleeping in or getting deliveries for late night studies.”
Starship also plans to hire Idaho students to work with the Starship fleet on an ongoing basis.
"We’re thrilled to be the first to welcome the Starship robots to Idaho and the Vandal community,” says Mo Alhabashneh, Idaho Eats Resident District Manager. “This innovative technology will enhance our level of service and make our dining options readily available to all Vandals wherever they find themselves on campus.”
The University of Arizona has implemented some new and exciting solutions into its campus dining services, bolstered by a partnership with mobile ordering platform Grubhub. The partnership has brought the full slate of modern campus dining solutions including mobile ordering, self-service kiosks and pick-up lockers.
To paint a more vivid picture of the dining environment at the University of Arizona, we will be hosting an in-depth webinar event with both Arizona and Grubhub. The free webinar will discuss how Arizona has benefitted from Grubhub’s ordering platform and other emerging technologies to create a modern dining experience.
The webinar is scheduled for Thursday April 7, 2022 from 2:00 - 2:30 PM ET.
CampusIDNews recently spoke with Christine Carlson, Director of Dining & Nutrition at the University of Arizona about what’s happening on campus. Carlson will be presenting on the webinar and offers a primer for what attendees can expect to learn from the session.
"Technology helps us improve efficiencies," says Carlson. "We were early adopters of mobile ordering and then integrated kiosk ordering along with delivery through couriers."
"We had other technologies we were looking at and COVID-19 expedited our use, including several pick up lockers for food orders, smart vending machines, and added pick up windows in several locations to allow for quicker order retrieval," adds Carlson.
Webinar attendees will learn how Arizona is using kiosk ordering to move cashier labor to different positions. The solutions that Arizona has successfully incorporated into its dining ops have the campus thinking toward the future.
"We are looking at the potential of adding more lockers across campus to allow for food options without having to open an entirely new concept," says Carlson. "We are always looking for additional smart vending options that make sense for our operations and meet what students are looking for."
The University of Maryland is amending a carryout-only policy in campus dining, returning to the standard formula of dine-in service. The move comes as campus operations increasingly return to normalcy from policies put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the use of disposable carryout containers in dining halls.
As reported by Maryland's student publication, The Diamondback, the decision to revert to dining in comes two weeks into the spring semester that began with carryout-only in university dining halls. University of Maryland dining services has since ended disposable carryout options entirely and reverted to standard dine-in only service.
The initial reason behind the then temporary carryout-only policy was a surge in COVID-19 cases at the end of the spring semester last year. The University Health Center requested that dining halls shift to carryout only to help curb infections.
But among other reasons, the cost of the carryout containers has brought an end to the policy. That's according to Dining Services spokesperson Bart Hipple, who adds that the containers also hamper the university's goal of being a carbon neutral campus by 2025, given the waste that the disposable containers generate.
For the first two weeks of the semester alone -- when carryout was the only option -- Hipple told The Diamondback that carryout supplies cost the university approximately $92,000. Dining Services reported having enough carryout containers for a short period of time but would not be able to financially support carryout-only dining for an entire semester.
Additionally, university dining services doesn’t have a dedicated portion of its budget for carryout containers. This means that when the department needs to pay for additional containers, it has to use funds allocated to other parts of its budget.
“We ended up operating at a loss for a while,” said Hipple in a statement to The Diamondback. “We would have had to go into our funds we have set aside for things like the new dining hall and improvements.”
The university's newly inaugurated president announced last year that the campus' goal is to be carbon neutral by 2025. Hipple says that carryout containers would inhibit this, as they create a lot of waste. All of the containers students throw away, despite being made of cardboard, will end up in a landfill.
Compare that to the standard dine-in formula, where extra trash comes back on a tray return to be either composted or recycled. Maryland Dining Services director Colleen Wright-Riva told The Diamondback that when the school offers carryout, roughly 6 million pieces of packaging are used each year.
The University of Mississippi has replaced its existing Everbridge system with the Rave Guardian safety app. The change will see Rave Guardian be the official campus safety mobile application that will help communicate emergency and safety information to the university community.
According to an official university release, all members of the Ole Miss community are urged, but not required, to install the Rave Guardian app on their Android or iOS devices. The app is free to download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Once downloaded, users enter and verify their contact information, and allow the requested permissions for full emergency notification functionality.
Features built into the Rave Guardian safety app include:
Additional features coming soon to the Rave Guardian app include a Report tips and chat function that enables two-way communication with emergency services. This feature also boasts an optional anonymous mode.
Also on the docket is a new Safety Timer feature that enables users to enlist a virtual campus-safety escort that monitors a student's progress while walking from one place to another.
Campus ID and access control provider, ASSA ABLOY, has published a new e-book that offers campus administrators in-depth info and advice about how to build a robust mobile credential program. The document breaks down ways administrators can make wise decisions regarding hardware, security and even aesthetics.
As mobile ID technology continues to change campus life, university administrators face questions about which technologies to use and how to deploy them. A new e-book from campus ID technology vendor ASSA ABLOY aims to bring clarity to those increasingly vital choices.
Entitled “Demystifying Mobile Access on Campus,” the new e-book illustrates the mobile ID credential landscape for administrations and highlights the options available to them as they bring more digital programs to campus and meet the needs of digitally sophisticated students, faculty and staff.
“Credential technology is continuously evolving to ensure the highest level of security, so it’s important to build your access control infrastructure with flexibility and future-proofing in mind,” says Tyler Webb, director of campus EAC Sales, ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions. “This means access control locks and readers that can support not only the credentials you have today, but also those you plan to use in the future.”
ASSA ABLOY offers a wide range of integrated locks that can support multiple credential technologies at once. “This allows for a seamless transition from lower security credentials to higher security card formats and mobile credentials,” says Webb.
“Remember that our mutual customer — your students — are delivering the clear message that they want to use their phone for mobile access on campus,” ASSA ABLOY says in its e-book.
One key takeaway from the e-book is to consider whether your campus’ goal is 100% parity from the start or could a phased-in approach be more feasible. Talking to other universities about the path they took and the risks and rewards they experienced is a great start. Consulting industry associations like the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU) can also be a valuable resource.
The e-book also provides insights into the first Apple mobile developments at the University of Alabama, Duke University and the University of Oklahoma with a range of in-the-weeds information and advice for mobile ID and mobile credential programs.
"Today there are a limited number of providers that can issue mobile credentials,” says Webb. “This may be the same company that provides the access control platform, or a campus may opt to source their mobile credentials from one provider and work with a different provider for their access control platform. Either way, ASSA ABLOY locking hardware offers the flexibility to support the mobile credential of your choice."
Setting up a robust system can be achieved via a few different paths, according to the e-book.
For instance, choosing ASSA ABLOY’s IN Series lock can help a campus to support multiple credential types and ease the transition to higher security credentials and mobile access.
Campus administrators also can opt for the provider’s Passport Series, which ASSA ABLOY describes as providing “simultaneous support for multiple credentials and an easy migration path from mag stripe cards to higher security credentials and mobile access.”
The company’s Aperio Wireless Series is another option that allows facilities to upgrade their security quickly, easily and affordably by “eliminating the cost and inconvenience of traditional access control.”
Of course, product options are only one part of the mobile ID and credentialing process. Campus administrators must also consider the quality of installation for mobile access tools, the right balance of functionality and cost, the total cost of ownership, and even aesthetics.
As the e-book points out, making the right decisions — that could likely influence a host of daily campus tasks including building access, security and transactions — can go a long way toward updating a campus to safer and more efficient processes.
"Ultimately, the decision to go with 100% implementation or a phased approach depends on what is the best strategy for your campus,” Webb says. “It’s important to consider why you are making this change.”
“We recommend talking to other schools about the path they took and the risks and rewards they experienced,” Webb adds. “We have a team of technology experts that have been involved in mobile deployments at campuses across the country who can help navigate your best path forward on what can be a significant investment and change to the way you do business."
Morgan State University has joined the ranks of universities to add robot delivery on campus, deploying a fleet of KiwiBots on its Baltimore campus. University officials are taking advantage of the spring break period to prep the campus for the new delivery initiative.
Robot delivery on the Morgan State campus is underpinned by the university's food-service provider Sodexo. Together with Kiwibot, Morgan State students can use their mobile device to place orders and meet the small, semi-autonomous robots on campus in between classes or whenever is most convenient.
Placing an order for delivery is simple. Students open the BiteU app on their smartphone, place an order from the list of participating vendors, and the robot handles the rest, collecting the order and driving it to the selected location. The average wait time is expected to be 20-35 minutes depending on distance and peak times.
A somewhat unique twist on the robot delivery formula, Morgan State is offering its students the option of a subscription plan for use of the robots. The standard formula of a per-order delivery fee is also available, but the subscription plans include:
The Kiwibot Delivery package waives both delivery (normally $2.00 per order) and service fees (10% of order total) for 15 Kiwi Robot deliveries per semester unless otherwise noted. Students can use the plan during all operating hours and operating areas on campus with no daily order limits.
The delivery plans are non-transferrable, expire at the end of each semester, and credits do not carry-over semester to semester. The Kiwibot Delivery Plan is optional and available for students, faculty, and staff to purchase.
Depending on their meal plan, students will have the option to link their student ID card to the app as payment. Debit and credit cards will be accepted as well.
The robots will drop off orders from Rawlings Cafe between 7am to 12am, or the Canteen in the Student Center between 11am to 8pm.
Currently, Kiwibots deliver food and beverages, with university officials planning to incorporate additional items in the near future. The full roster of participating locations is available to students in their BiteU mobile app.
The Kiwibots have been running test deliveries during the week of spring break and will be fully up and running for student orders when classes resume.
