Distance exams are now underway with the Cisco Webex and Keyless platforms

Luiss kicks off remote exams

Over 5,000 students taking part

Privacy and security ensured by Cisco Webex and Keyless technologies

Click here to watch the presentation video posted on the university's social media channels

It’s time for “virtual” exams for students at Luiss Guido Carli. Starting Monday, May 11, they are taking the first assessment tests of the summer session directly from home, thanks to the integration between the Cisco Webex technology platform and “Keyless,” an innovative startup in the field of cybersecurity.

During the COVID era, the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali never stopped. From the day after the first Prime Ministerial Decree on March 5, the university moved its entire educational offering—bachelor’s, master’s, and postgraduate programs—online. In just over two months, it engaged approximately 8,500 students and over 550 faculty members in 10,600 virtual, interactive classes, totaling more than 17,000 hours of instruction and 75 million connections. That’s not all: by accelerating its digitalization efforts, the University also ensured that the special graduation session for 745 candidates could take place remotely. These figures led to Luiss being selected by the tech giant Cisco as a global best practice in education for its digital acceleration in response to the suspension of in-person university activities due to the pandemic.

And now, for the exam session, the university has devised a technologically advanced plan, thanks in part to its partnership with Keyless, a startup based in Rome and London. Keyless was founded by former student Andrea Carmignani and recently accelerated by major Italian and international funds, including Luiss Alumni 4 Growth.

With this digital infrastructure—unique in its security, ease of use, and privacy protection—the university is already enabling nearly 10,000 students to take over 2,100 exams simultaneously from their homes. Keyless, through a new distributed biometric authentication technology, facilitates the candidate identification process before the exam begins. Using face recognition, the startup collects the biometric parameters of the student’s face or fingerprint, ensuring full protection of their sensitive data in line with privacy regulations. 

Once their identity is verified, each candidate is directed to the Cisco Webex TEAMS platform for the oral exams. Written exams, on the other hand, are conducted using the Cisco Webex Training platform, which each professor customizes based on their preferred exam format. A series of control mechanisms ensure exams are conducted correctly, allowing faculty to evaluate each test.

“After the lessons, the midterm exams, and the graduation sessions, we redesigned the exams with the aim of ensuring a full exchange between students and faculty,” said Luiss Rector Andrea Prencipe, adding: “The digital tools we have chosen, in partnership with an international player like Cisco and an emerging startup like Keyless, do not replace in-person assessment methods, but rather enhance and amplify these moments. And the experience we’ve gained over these two months of the pandemic fully demonstrates this.”

“As an alumnus, it’s a great pleasure to support my former university in its digital transformation with a tool that’s intuitive, secure, and fully respects student privacy. It was developed in partnership with a world-class company like Cisco,” said Andrea Carmignani, founder of the startup Keyless.

Agostino Santoni, CEO of Cisco Italy, added: “Our experience with LUISS Guido Carli clearly demonstrates the potential that can be unlocked when the best available technologies are pooled, leveraged, and integrated through an approach that ensures openness, flexibility, and the necessary security. It's a decision to innovate together, benefiting thousands of students who can confidently continue their studies and pass their exams.”