About ArkID
ArkID is the Universal Research Identity Platform—an open-source Keycloak-based system that issues standardized ISO-27729 identifiers for the complete research innovation chain worldwide, spanning ideas, researchers, projects, organizations, products, and funding opportunities.
Our Mission
As the Universal Research Identity Platform, ArkID solves the specific problem of managing complex relationships between different research entities across the entire innovation lifecycle, ensuring traceability and unified identification for all stakeholders in the research ecosystem.
ArkID creates an open, sovereign, "invisible" identifier infrastructure rooted in European data protection while serving the global research and innovation ecosystem. It enables traceability and verification across previously disconnected domains.
By providing universal identifiers for ideas, researchers, projects, organizations, and products, ArkID enhances traceability across different research entities and ensures a holistic integration of all key players in the research ecosystem.
Key Features
Everything you need to manage research identities at scale
Universal Identity System
- Unique identifiers for ideas, researchers, projects, organizations, and products
- ISO 27729 compliant 16-digit format with check digit
- Human-readable and memorable IDs with entity-type prefixes
- Public URL resolution system (arkid.researchark.eu/{arkid})
Relationship Tracking
- Relational knowledge map connecting every entity type
- Temporal tracking of relationship start and end dates (validity windows rolling out)
- Role-based associations between entities
- Complete traceability from idea conception to final product
Advanced Security
- Roadmap: W3C Verifiable Credentials for tamper-proof verification
- Organization and user verification processes
- Privacy controls for public information
- EU data sovereignty and GDPR compliance
Comprehensive API Access
- RESTful and GraphQL APIs for entity data access
- JSON Schema validation for all entity types
- External system integration (ORCID, DOI, ROR)
- High-performance caching with Redis
Global Standards
- ISO 27729 (ISNI) compliance for all identifiers
- Universal timestamp format (ISO 8601)
- International country codes (ISO 3166-1)
- Global currency standards (ISO 4217)
Open & Sovereign Infrastructure
- EU-based hosting and governance
- MycelArk UG (haftungsbeschränkt) stewardship with a global adoption mandate (German e.V. foundation planned)
- Open-source licensing (Apache 2.0)
- Community governance model with transparency
Technical Specifications
ISO 27729 (ISNI) Compliance
Our universal identifiers follow the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) format, ensuring global uniqueness and compatibility:
ARKI-0000-0000-1122-3344ARKU-0000-0000-2783-9273ARKP-0000-0000-3943-2198ARKO-0000-0000-5129-3847ARKD-0000-0000-6677-8899ARKF-0000-0000-1234-567XEach ArkID contains a 16-digit numerical value with an alphanumeric prefix to identify the entity type. The 16th digit is a check digit calculated according to ISO 27729 standards, providing built-in validation.
Keycloak Integration & Enterprise Security
Built on stock Keycloak with hardened configuration, ArkID provides enterprise-grade identity and access management for the universal research platform:
- OpenID Connect and OAuth 2.0 support
- Roadmap: W3C Verifiable Credentials for tamper-proof verification
- EU-based hosting operated by MycelArk UG (haftungsbeschränkt), serving a global research community (German e.V. foundation planned)
- PostgreSQL relational model for relationship tracking (graph extensions under future evaluation)
Ready to Get Started?
Join the universal research identity platform and get your unique ArkID today.