On August 23, 2024, PCG Academia signed a PLN 3.8 million contract with one of the top universities in Europe and the world – the University of Zurich (UZH). The newly signed contract, provides for the delivery of the latest version of the DSpace scientific repository to UZH, along with the migration of data from the previously used solution, as well as a multi-year maintenance and development service.

The University of Zurich is a top global university, ranked in this year’s edition of The U.S. News & World Report among the top 20 universities in Europe and the top 60 universities in the world. Founded in 1883, the University of Zurich is one of the top three universities in Switzerland and is now one of the leading research and academic centers in Western Europe.

“I am proud of the PCG team, which, as part of the process of selecting a DSpace repository provider for the University of Zurich, which has been ongoing for many months, has proven that it has the knowledge, competence and skills necessary to implement projects for even the most demanding universities,” says Lukasz Nowak, CEO of PCG Academia. “I hope that our success at UZH, will accelerate PCG’s ongoing international expansion and help ‘convince the unconvinced’ in the domestic science management market in Poland.”

The goal of the collaboration between PCG Academia and the University of Zurich, is to upgrade the so-called Zurich Open Repository and Archive (ZORA), an institutional scientific repository currently containing 200,000 objects and developed by UZH for 17 years. Following in the footsteps of dozens of universities from Europe and the World, UZH has decided to replace the solution currently in use (ePrints) with the latest version of the DSpace scientific repository.

As part of the ongoing project, PCG Academia will install and launch the DSpace repository on UZH servers and migrate data from the ePrints system to DSpace. The user interface of the new repository will be aligned with the UZH sign book and guidelines related to UZH’s graphic identity. PCG Academia will also conduct several rounds of training sessions aimed at correct use of the system by university employees. Publication of the final version of the DSpace-based UZH repository is scheduled for autumn 2025.

PCG Academia has more than 5 years of experience in implementing and customizing the DSpace system for higher education institutions. To PCG’s credit, there are already more than a dozen successful implementations of this platform, including for two of Poland’s largest and top-ranked universities – Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the University of Warsaw. In 2024, commemorative conferences have been planned to mark the launch of the repositories at UJ and UW – the first was held in February in Krakow, and the second will be held on October 24 and 25 in Warsaw in close cooperation with the University of Warsaw Library.

PCG Academia is the only company in Poland with the status of gold partner, the American LYRASIS consortium, which is responsible for the development and maintenance of the DSpace platform. LYRASIS gold partnership is obtained by entities directly involved in the development of the technology that is DSpace, and PCG is among a small group of companies that contribute the most code within the development of the DSpace repository and are actively involved in building a community of its users.

All universities from home and abroad interested in the professional process of implementation, integration, development and maintenance of the DSpace scientific repository are welcome to contact PCG Academia.

WATCH A VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THE DSPACE PLATFORM