Methodology and outcomes of using the Data Seal of Approval to benchmark and guide trust issues in an evolving European Research Data

This paper will outline the methodology and processes used to develop and define the requirements for trust in the emerging Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA). As CESSDA evolves from a "Council" to a "Consortium" one goal is to ensure that national service providers can align to the same (or similar) practices and standards to maximise cross-national efficiency and interoperability. A key part of this collaboration is trust. The 16 trust guidelines of the data seal of approval were used to benchmark current practice, identify potential gaps and to support the development of mutual trust structures. The paper outlines the progress to date on this project and discusses the potential impact of audit and certification of trusted digital Repositories on data management within this research infrastructure.