Johannesburg, 27 Mar 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by storm. Daily operations across all sectors are demanding relentless innovation to adhere to strict social distancing while maintaining productivity and communication. Education is a critical sector that is affected, remote learning has become the norm as schools and universities are forced to shut their physical doors and open digital ones. Tools such as Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts and Zoom have enabled the virtual classroom to reach students across multiple learning platforms.
“Identity verification is non-negotiable in the e-learning era. Without digital identity verification, a student can simply outsource the exam to a smarter friend and still ‘earn’ the degree. It’s essential to know that the person writing the online exam is the same as the person being awarded accreditation. Digital identity authentication is essential to prevent an erosion in the integrity of educational degrees,” says Gur Geva, Co-CEO of iiDENTIFii.
GetSmarter, the South African online educational provider, made headlines in 2017 with its R 1.4 billion exit to NASDAQ-listed 2U. It has enabled study material from Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Stanford and MIT to be accessed by a wide and diverse audience. The need to prove the identity of online learners during discussion groups, chat forums and especially examinations has resulted in a surge in requests for the iiDENTIFii technology stack for this purpose.
iiDENTIFii’s technology is able to prove that learners are who they say they are, from application, through registration, during an online examination and eventually to graduation. Students are verified via iiDENTIFiis non-invasive, proven and automated facial recognition and authentication process. The process works on any mobile phone or personal computer with a Webcam. iiDENTIFii’s face matching algorithms and patented light technologies are specifically optimised for the respective ethnic groups globally. Further, iiDENTIFii has enabled a step-down technology, which works even when an individual is wearing a surgical mask to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
It is up to all of us to be a part of the solution to this pandemic by adapting our personal approaches and business operations. iiDENTIFii is stepping up to the plate to help others, both through their services as well as by making a commitment to pay a percentage of all profits in this time toward the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s COVID-19 initiative as well as towards the South African Solidarity Fund.
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