The African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA) is the umbrella body for the African library sector. It focuses on building the capacity of librarians and related professionals to promote equitable access to information, increase the visibility of African knowledge and research outputs, and adapt effectively to evolving knowledge and information trends in order to drive sustainable development on the continent.

As we enter the new year and look back at 2025, it’s a good moment to pause, reflect, and acknowledge what the DataCite community has achieved together while also looking ahead to the work that will shape this year and beyond.

XploreOpen is a Pakistan-based non-profit initiative dedicated to advancing equitable access to knowledge through open science, open infrastructure, and open cultural heritage.

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Pan African research-to-policy institution dedicated to generating evidence, strengthening research capacity, and informing policy action across Africa.

People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) is a Vietnamese non-profit organization founded in 2006, dedicated to protecting biodiversity and promoting sustainable development. PanNature works to harmonize the relationship between people and nature through policy advocacy, field-based conservation, and community partnerships, aiming to improve environmental governance and ensure responsible use of natural resources.

Mekelle University (MU), founded in 2000 and located in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, is a research-intensive institution dedicated to advancing knowledge, economic growth, and social welfare both nationally and internationally. As a founding member of the Ethiopian Research Universities Forum in 2025, MU is committed to elevating the visibility and impact of Ethiopian research on the global stage.

The DataCite team traveled to Brisbane for the International Data Week 2025, the leading international conference on research data. It is jointly organised by the International Science Council’s Committee on Data (CODATA) and World Data System (WDS), and the Research Data Alliance (RDA). It was a great opportunity to connect with familiar and new faces.

As a nonprofit membership association and open infrastructure provider for research organizations around the world, DataCite’s day-to-day operations and strategic directions are actively shaped by ongoing community engagement and input.  DataCite steering and working groups are one of the primary ways in which community members can get more involved in our work.

This month, a quiet yet momentous event occurred in DataCite infrastructure: the registration of our 100 millionth DOI.  100 million is a huge number. And it says a lot about global adoption of DataCite and the scale of our community and infrastructure.  But the bigger story behind this exciting headline is about what this number represents. So we are marking the milestone with a few reflections about its broader significance.

The Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN) and the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) have partnered to advance open science and research data management in the region. Through support from DataCite’s Global Access Fund (GAF), this collaboration focuses on building the technical infrastructure needed to support experimental data in line with the FAIR principles.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research began implementing open science before the signing of the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.