Entities and Identities in Research Information Systems

Where science is increasingly becoming a global business and furthermore with open data and access initiatives, means to identify and thus to connect system-internal with non-internal entities are urgently needed. The need for identifiers beyond systems is thus a global requirement but also relevant within organization boundaries spanning multiple systems. Various identifier initiatives and systems have started in the scientific domain and beyond. However, they have not yet achieved the required interoperability. With this paper we aim to collect additional essential ingredients towards designing a sustainable CERIF identifier sub model, contributing to ongoing discussions and supporting design decisions. Here, we first present common issues with identifiers in the wider academic domain, before we analyze available systems, technologies and current initiatives solving the global identity gap.