Reliable and sustainable: ICSD successfully certified

Karlsruhe, 22 April 2024 – ICSD is an internationally recognized service in the field of crystallography and includes the world’s largest database for fully determined inorganic crystal structures.  FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure is responsible for ICSD and has successfully subjected the database to an independent assessment by CoreTrustSeal. The CoreTrustSeal certificate certifies that ICSD’s data management and the long-term access to the data are trustworthy. We are delighted that we meet the strict quality criteria of CoreTrustSeal and are allowed to bear its seal of approval for trustworthy data archives for the next three years.   
CoreTrustSeal is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable and trustworthy data infrastructures worldwide. Certification is based on a two-stage process: first a comprehensive self-evaluation based on 16 assessment criteria, followed by an external assessment by independent experts appointed by CoreTrustSeal. Not only the technical infrastructure of the data archive is assessed, but also measures for data curation and its traceability and thus in particular the scientific expertise of the employees. 
Another very important issue for certification is the long-term archiving of research data. FIZ Karlsruhe can rely on its own repository RADAR for this purpose and was thus able to meet all the necessary requirements. Aspects such as organizational management, long-term financing and continuity planning of the operating institution are also evaluated.

Details of the requirements and a copy of the certification assessment for ICSD can be viewed on the CoreTrustSeal website. With regard to the highly dynamic nature of technical developments, the validity of the certificate is limited to three years before the trustworthiness can be reconfirmed.

"ICSD has been one of our core products for over 40 years and the community has been attesting to our high data quality and the high value of our data for science for many years. I am particularly pleased that we have now also been certified as trustworthy and sustainable by the Core Trust Seal," says Prof. Dr. Wolfram Horstmann, President & CEO of FIZ Karlsruhe.

Details on our services, prices, contract  terms and various other information material is available at https://icsd.products.fiz-karlsruhe.de/en. There is also the opportunity to test ICSD without obligation. The ICSD team will be happy to answer any questions you may have: icsd [at] fiz-karlsruhe.de.