A new report, “Measuring what matters”, highlights CESSDA’s continued progress in promoting open science, increasing access to high-quality social science data, and strengthening collaborations across disciplines and beyond Europe.

The report presents evidence of CESSDA’s performance and growth between 2020 and 2024. Following the framework of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), CESSDA collects annual quantitative indicators and qualitative narratives from the Main Office (coordination hub) and Service Providers (a network of social science data archives appointed by member countries). 

Since 2020, CESSDA’s key achievements include:

• Primary digital objects (including datasets) stored increased by 36% while their delivery rose more than threefold. By 2024, CESSDA archived over 41,000 primary digital objects. 

• Direct outreach, training, and education events have more than doubled, with training attendance increased by 42%. By 2024, CESSDA delivered nearly 600 trainings attended by 14,000 data users.

• A growing user base with a 20% increase in registered users. CESSDA’s website visits reached nearly 10 million annually. By 2024, CESSDA recorded 459,000 registered users.

• Stronger engagement in science advice and evidence-based policy. By 2024, CESSDA had 22 members and 22 partners; one in five Service Providers actively contributed to shaping national, European, and global science policies.

"Our KPIs demonstrate how coordinated investment in open science and FAIR data delivers tangible benefits for science and society,” said Dr. Bonnie Wolff-Boenisch, CESSDA Director. “Continuing to support and strengthen trustworthy research data archives helps build a resilient, sustainable and trustworthy research ecosystem.”

For more information, please contact Lorraine Wong, Senior Science Officer of CESSDA Main Office, at lorraine.wong@cessda.eu.

Read the full report here.