Joining the EWP Network

Only HEIs that hold an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) can join the EWP network. The list of such HEIs is available in the ECHE list. Organisational units of a given HEI (faculties, departments) or consortia are not allowed to connect to the network separately.

More information about the ECHE list is available in Data sources section of thie Developers Guide. .

Information for the Dashboard users is available in a separate space, see Dashboard.

3rd-party and in-house mobility software providers should follow the steps explained below. Important parts of the procedure are described in two separate sections.

EWP Administrator

Information for HEIs which want to

register their in-house mobility software solution,
confirm their manifest uploaded by the 3rd-party provider

how to create the EWP Administrator role.

Collaboration Agreement

Information about the Collaboration Agreement that is required for 3rd-party and in-house providers to join the EWP network.

A step-by-step guide to the EWP Network

This section explains the process of obtaining technical information, meeting formal requirements, developing software, testing and validating the software, and eventually starting data exchange in the production network.

Providers of the mobility software to be installed in the EWP networks have to follow these steps. Most of them are mandatory, and some may be considered as advice or good practice.

In some steps, assistance from other users will be needed.

Phase 1	Gather information
Step 1.1	Locate sources of technical information, read relevant documents
	✓ The EWP Developers Guide contains information for technically oriented readers and also links to other technical resources. ✓ The GitHub repositories contain information on the EWP network architecture and formal specifications of APIs.
Step 1.2	Meet other providers and join EWP technical meetings
	✓ Subscribe to the providers mailing list. ✓ Join other providers at the Infrastructure Forum meetings. The relevant section contains presentations from the meeting and other resources.

Phase 2	Implement mobility software with the support of the EWP technical team
Step 2.1	Design, consult, and implement your mobility software
	✓ Use public resources of the EWP project, like the EWP Developers Guide, Github repositories, shared source code, to design, develop, and implement according to your schedule and in your local settings. ✓ Read GitHub issues, ask questions, consult your solution with other development teams and the EWP technical team. ✓ Optionally, visit the DEMO testbed to confront your design with another solution.
Step 2.2	Test your mobility software in the local environment
	✓ Create your own EWP network in the local environment, with the Registry and validators, to run local tests. ✓ Prepare a test plan. ✓ Use validators to test if generated responses are compliant with the specification. ✓ Use test scenarios for testing the exchange of data between local nodes.

Phase 3	Join the EWP DEV network and get the technical admission to the PROD network
Step 3.1	Become a member of the EWP DEV community
	✓ Sign the Collaboration Agreement. ✓ Register as a provider in the DEV Registration portal, following the steps listed in the Registration Portal section of this Guide. Wait until you provider’s account is activated. ✓ Register your test manifest files in the DEV Network via the DEV Registration portal. ✓ If you are a 3rd-party provider, ask client HEIs (staff members with the EWP Admin attribute) to confirm their manifest files. Ask the Registration Portal administrator for help if you want to register manifest files with SCHAC codes that do not belong to your clients. For in-house mobility software this step is not necessary, as the manifest are confirmed by default.
Step 3.2	Validate and test in the DEV network
	✓ Prepare a test plan. ✓ Prepare your solution for testing. ✓ Use validators to test if the generated responses are compliant with the specification. All tests should give positive results, otherwise, the tested software will not be accepted in production. ✓ Test with the partners. If you cannot find testing partners, ask the EWP technical team for assistance. Optionally you can use the DEMO Testbed as the testing partner. ✓ Use test scenarios for testing the exchange of data between nodes in the DEV network. ✓ Implement stats endpoints and trace statistics generated by your node in the DEV Stats portal. ✓ Implement the monitoring API and send error reports to the Monitoring system. ✓ React promptly to alerts from the Monitoring system, correct errors, and deploy new versions of the system. ✓ Proactively consult technical reports with common errors, and test if your software is resilient to such types of errors.
Step 3.3	Test with the reference implementation and get the technical admission
	✓ Create a ticket in the ESCI Service Desk asking for a testing session with the reference implementation (which is the EWP Dashboard). ✓ Test with the Dashboard using available tools and the testing scenarios. Promptly correct encountered errors and continue testing. ✓ If testing is successfully concluded, sign the test report. This report will be published in the Technical testing and validation reports section of the EWP Developers Guide.

Phase 4	Join the EWP PROD Network (only after step 3.3 successfully concluded)
Step 4.1	Become a member of the EWP PROD community
	✓ Register as a provider in the PROD Registration portal, following the steps listed in the Registration Portal section of this Guide. Upload the signed Collaboration Agreement. Wait until you provider’s account is activated. ✓ Register your manifest files in the PROD Network via the PROD Registration portal. ✓ If you are a 3rd-party provider, ask client HEIs (staff members with the EWP Admin attribute) to confirm their manifest files. For in-house mobility software this step is not necessary, as the manifest are confirmed by default.
Step 4.2	Exchange data in the PROD network
	✓ As a provider, you are responsible for accurate training of HEIs using mobility software developed by you and for supporting them in using EWP-related functionalities. ✓ Assist your customers with interoperability issues encountered during data exchanges with partners. If necessary, contact other providers and together resolve the problems. Help in resolving issues related to your software raised in the ESCI Service Desk. ✓ Monitor statistics in the Stats portal. ✓ React promptly to alerts from the Monitoring system, correct errors, and deploy new versions of the system. ✓ Proactively consult technical reports with common errors, and test if your software is resilient to such types of errors.

Phase 5

Software upgrade and maintenance

✓ Take part in Infrastructure Forum meetings.

✓ Follow GitHub issues.

✓ Trace new API releases.

✓ Upgrade your mobility software.

✓ Repeat all steps starting from Step 3.2 before releasing new versions in the PROD EWP Network.

Phase 6

Revocation

Things can go wrong. When institutions violate the use of the EWP network, there should be an exit strategy. Institutions can report implementation issues of any particular node via the ESCI Service Desk. The EWP management will try to settle disputes and has the authority to exclude any institution from the production registry if it is in violation of the terms of usage. The institution will need to prove its ability and trustworthiness again in the development environment.