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AARC Interoperability Framework 

The AARC Interoperability Framework comprises the AARC policy and technical guidelines as well as the latest version of the Policy Development KIT (PDK). The AARC guidelines help communities and infrastructures to implement and operate an AARC BPA complaint AAI in an interoperable way.

The AARC guidelines address different topics and their development is driven by use-cases. The AARC Guidelines are endorsed by AEGIS, the AARC Engagement Group for Infrastructures, which was estabilished in 2019. AEGIS brings together representatives from research and e-infrastructures, operators of AAI that follow the AARC BPA and the AARC policy and technical team, to bridge communication gaps and make the most of common synergies. 

Upload an image (primary goal: visually attractive item to draw attention and trigger curiosity) or add a link to a YouTube/Vimeo video.

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Select one from the following list:

• Policy documents

• Technical Documents 

• Informational documents 

Select up to three from the following list:

• Academia/ Universities

• Other Actors who can help us fulfil our market potential

• Research and Technology Organisations

• Anybody who wishes to implement an AAI that follows the AARC BPA.

Select up to three from the following list:

• Business partners - SMEs, Entrepreneurs, Large Corporations

• Financing Expertise

• I/we wish to transfer my/our IPR to an interested party

• Business plan development

• Business Angels

• Other types of Investment

• Incubators / Accelerators

• Technology Transfer Expertise

• Investor readiness training

• Expanding to more markets /finding new customers

• Venture Capital

• Marketing Mentoring or Coaching

• Legal/IPR advice

• Investor introductions

• Executive Training

• Crowd-funding Equity

Licia's comment: to be honest none of the above. Our needs are to ensure that we have an interoperability framework for support the deployment of AARC BPA complaint AAIs. 

AARC team is looking for anyone who has deployed an AAI that follows that AARC BPA and has used or inted to use any of the AARC guidelines and/or the PDK and is willing to provide feedback. 
Organisation that using an AARC BPA complaint AAI in productions are invited to get in touch with the AARC Team. 

EC-funded project that was the main contributor

Optional – won’t be visible in the entry

GRNET, CERN, Nikhef, UKRI, SURF, KIT and a few more. 

Partners that will serve as contact points for further exploitation. 

• No

Not applicable unless there’s a startup in the works

Title of the success story collection (should at least contain material that is not created by the contributors or owners). You can add several entries to this section (click Add information)

TBA - We should get somebody for AEGIS. 

More information will be published on the AARC Website. 

https://trust.aaf.edu.au/global-framework/

URL

All AARC results are available on Zenodo and on the AARC website 

The AARC Interoperability Framework provides structured policy and technical guidance to support interoperable deployment of AARC BPA-compliant AAIs. It comprises thematic guidelines addressing identity and access management practices, trust and policy harmonisation, and operational interoperability, together with the Policy Development Kit (PDK) that supports policy harmonisation across collaborations and infrastructures. The framework is use-case driven and evolves through community feedback and implementation experience. Endorsed by AEGIS, it is governed collaboratively by research infrastructures, AAI operators, architecture & policy experts. By defining shared expectations and common implementation patterns, the framework reduces fragmentation and enables consistent cross-border federated access across research ecosystems.

Select up to three from the following list:

• Climate action
• Digital economy and society
• Education and training; Employment and social affairs
• Research and innovation
• Single market

• Interoperability Framework
• Policy Development Kit (PDK)
• Federated Identity Management (FIM)
• Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructure (AAI)
• Trust Framework
• Policy Harmonisation
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Cross-border Collaboration
• Research Infrastructures

Select up to three from the following list:

• GOAL 4: Quality Education
• GOAL 5: Gender Equality
• GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

(Optional) Is it a Radical Innovation Breakthrough?

• No

Has your result had or do you expect it to have a significant influence on policy-making?

• Yes, but only within the R&E sector, in what concerns identity infrastructures. The AARC BPA has become the de-facto best practice document to deploy interoperable AAIs.

Title (optional, one or more links to further information)

Guidelines endorsed by AEGIS

Link

Result Maturity

TRL Level 9

Current Stage and Next Steps

The guidelines and Policy Development Kit (PDK) are publicly available, actively maintained, and used by research infrastructures and AAI operators deploying AARC BPA-compliant AAIs. The framework is governed through AEGIS under an established community process that incorporates implementation feedback and evolving use cases. Multiple independent infrastructures have adopted the guidelines to implement policy alignment and interoperability practices in operational production environments, demonstrating sustained real-world application.

Do you already have customers for this result?

• Yes - we do not have customers but we have organisations and initiatives that have adopted the AARC BPA. 

Number of existing customers

• 31-50

What type of customers/ users do you have?

Select all that are applicable:

• Academia

Which Business Sectors do your customers mainly come from?

Select all that are applicable:

• Education and training; Employment and social affairs
• Research and innovation
• Single market

Unique value proposition

The AARC Interoperability Framework uniquely combines policy guidance, technical specifications, and a Policy Development Kit under AEGIS community governance. Unlike isolated best-practice documents, it is operationally validated—enabling independent infrastructures to achieve interoperable federated identity management.

Do you have a scalable business model?

For a business model to be scalable, staffing requirements should grow in a strongly sublinear fashion and/or the revenue per customer (or end-user) should remain relatively stable. Grant-based sustainability is usually not scalable, nor is consulting. Franchising, licensing and platform business models can be.

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Is your result replicable?

(Judgement call)

• Yes

Please elaborate on the Replicability

The AARC Interoperability Framework is inherently replicable as it consists of openly published policy and technical guidelines together with the Policy Development Kit (PDK), which can be independently adopted by research infrastructures and AAI operators. The framework does not prescribe a specific software stack or deployment model, allowing organisations to integrate its recommendations within diverse technical and governance environments. Because it defines shared interoperability principles rather than centralised services, independent implementations can align with the framework while retaining local autonomy. Existing adoption by multiple infrastructures demonstrates that the guidelines can be replicated across national, European, and international contexts without dependency on a single provider.

Is your result and your business model sustainable in the long term?

Please elaborate on Sustainability

The AARC Interoperability Framework’s sustainability is driven by active community governance (via AEGIS) and broad adoption across national and international research infrastructures. As an open, vendor-neutral framework, it benefits from strong network effects: the more infrastructures that align with it, the more valuable it becomes, naturally incentivising technical updates and policy evolution.

Are you targeting geographical markets?

The framework targets European and international research infrastructures and identity federations, supporting global interoperability and cross-border collaboration.

What level of investment (EUR) are you currently looking for?

Levels of funding sought: if a € sum is chosen.

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