Digital arts and humanities have the potential to positively impact the quality of human life, civic engagement and public value. However, this potential can only be realised if researchers can collaborate and engage with each other and society in a secure and trustworthy manner. This is where identity management systems, such as Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructures (AAI), come in.

AAI is a set of software systems that help users easily login to services. It enables single sign-on (SSO), whereby users authenticate once when connecting to the first application and are then automatically authenticated for all other federated applications they wish to use. It also ensures that access to resources is controlled and secure where necessary (e.g. sensitive datasets or licensed resources), and is compliant with security and ethical requirements. In the context of digital humanities and arts, AAI is critical for enabling researchers to collaborate on projects, share resources and engage with each other and society.

However, implementing AAI for a trustworthy collaboration framework can be challenging. This is where the AARC Compendium (Short et al., 2026) comes in. The AARC Compendium is an introductory guide to implementing federated identity management for research collaborations. Based on the AARC Blueprint Architecture (AARC BPA, 2019), the Compendium provides a practical overview of how to design, implement, and operate an AAI. It also covers various topics including technical requirements, security, data protection and policy-related issues.

As researchers, we value collaboration, openness, and inclusivity. The AARC Compendium, which itself was developed collaboratively (AARC-TREE, 2025), reflects these values by providing a framework for building trustworthy digital infrastructures that support our scholarship.

Why should Research Communities invest in AARC Compliance?

For DARIAH, investing in AARC-compliant AAI is a strategic step to strengthen its role within the European and international research ecosystem. By following the AARC Blueprint, research communities can establish robust and trustworthy identity management systems, can enable secure and seamless collaboration, as well as grant access to shared resources and services.

DARIAH is influencing the next phase of AARC compliance through its involvement in the current AARC TREE project (AARC Technical Revision to Enhance Effectiveness) (AARC-TREE, 2026), which aims to stimulate the uptake of federated access management. This work lays the foundation for AAIs to become compatible with the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) (Kanellopoulos et al., 2025). AARC-compliant AAIs are a prerequisite for this.

Finally, we reiterate that infrastructures of engagement need to be designed to support open, inclusive, collaborative, and sustainable platforms for research and scholarship. They should enable researchers to collaborate and engage with each other and with society in a secure and trustworthy manner. To achieve this, research collaborations should prioritise using an AARC-compliant AAI as an essential cornerstone of their infrastructure from the outset. The DARIAH AAI (Kálmán et al., 2025; DARIAH-AAI, 2025) can be a good basis for this.