As the public sector is increasingly encouraged to collaborate effectively, our Hospital sites now host the GovRoam Network.

The GovRoam service creates seamless guest connectivity to other public organisations, giving encrypted and authenticated (therefore more secure) access to the internet. Access to local networks may require a VPN.

Visiting staff can access any GovRoam-enabled guest network in the same way, using their own sign-on credentials, reducing the time spent managing guest accounts.

The basic principle underpinning the security of GovRoam is that the authentication of a user is carried out at either his/her home organisation or an identity provider under contract to that organisation, using the organisation’s specific authentication method via a robustly encrypted network tunnel. The visited network carries out the authorisation required to allow access to local network resources of the user’s organisation.

Jisc, the owner of the national GovRoam service has more information about GovRoam and its benefits on the Jisc GovRoam information page. You can also see a map of GovRoam Venues.

The GovRoam App

The ‘GovRoam Companion’ is an app (iOS and Android compatible) that is available free of charge to all users of the GovRoam service. It’s role is to help users find the nearest available instances of GovRoam provision, making it easier to remain connected when travelling.