The World Data System is pleased to welcome the University of Cape Town (UCT) as its newest Associate member. As South Africa’s oldest university and a leading research institution on the continent, UCT is internationally recognized for academic excellence, social responsiveness, and innovative approaches to research. With a diverse community and high-impact scholarship spanning natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, health sciences, and engineering, UCT exemplifies the multidisciplinary spirit of WDS.
UCT embodies WDS’s mission with its CoreTrustSeal-certified data repositories, ZivaHub and DataFirst, which set a benchmark for trustworthy and sustainable data stewardship. The university actively participates in global data initiatives such as DataCite and the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), fostering international collaboration and advancing open science. UCT’s commitment to FAIR data principles and interoperability strengthens the WDS network and supports global efforts to promote open, accessible, and reliable research data.