Repository Resilience in Practice: Findings and Strategies from a Community in Crisis

Data are integral to daily life, underpinning weather forecasting, disaster response, healthcare, transportation, education, and evidence-based policymaking. Yet the worldwide repositories that store and provide access to these data are under growing pressure, from funding instability and political disruption to workforce loss and technical fragility, often simultaneously and without adequate support. When data repositories are weakened, censored, or removed, there are harmful consequences beyond the loss of information.

This project, Building Resilience of Data Repositories During Periods of Crisis, examined how repositories experience and withstand disruption. Using Repository Crisis Scorecards (RCS), focus groups, and surveys, the project gathered insights from repository administrators, technical staff, data users, and citizen archivists across more than 14 countries. Findings reveal a consistent pattern: repositories are generally well-prepared for routine operations but significantly less prepared for systemic shocks. Three interconnected, central  threats emerged: funding and policy disruption, workforce and expertise loss, and infrastructure and access failures. 

Everyone who needs reliable data has a role to play, from repository administrators and funders to policymakers, researchers, and the communities who depend on it daily for decisions about development and emergency responses. A practical set of actions are outlined, informed by community feedback, to strengthen repository resilience. The strategies that proved most effective share a common thread: they reduce dependence on any single funder, person, institution, or system. These strategies include diversifying funding streams, building redundant and distributed infrastructure, investing in stable and well-supported staff, and establishing crisis response plans before they are needed. Treating data repositories not as optional project outputs but as essential public infrastructure, worthy of the same sustained investment as roads or public health systems, is the necessary foundation for a resilient data ecosystem.