The goal of AARC is to address technical and functional gaps that prevent the interoperability of existing R&E AAIs. AARC objectives are:1. Deliver the design of an integrated cross-discipline AAI framework, built on federated access production services (eduGAIN) 2. Increase the uptake of federated access within different research communities3. Pilot critical components of the proposed integrated AAI where existing production services do not address user needs4. Validate the results of both the JRA and SA by engaging with the research communitiesAARC goals will be achieved by:• Researching main technical (attribute providers, guest IdPs, support for non-web SSO) and policy aspects (level of assurance, security incidents, etc)• Supporting (commercial) services relevant to the R&E community• Delivering training to targeted user communities (e.g. libraries, biomedical, arts and humanities) on both technical and legal aspectsRelevance to the work programme: 1. Facilitate the deployment and promotion of a pan-European identity federation – Met by:• Designing an AAI framework that builds on federated access and on the evolution of eduGAIN’s interfederation approach • Extensive dissemination of AARC results 2. Lower barriers to entry for organisations – Met by:• Delivering tools to enable federated access for institutions, services and guest users (also meets obj. Allow for public access at large) • Delivering technical training tailored to institutions and services following the train-the-trainer model (also meets obj. Offer training and outreach for data professionals)3. Overcome technical, organisational and legal obstacles – Met by:• Policies and best practices for operational and security aspects for the integrated AAI• Training on legal aspects, built on experience with eduGAIN4. Enable the interoperability of different AAIs – Met by:• Models to offer collective services and to aggregate their accounting information• Pilots on security token