IJDC | General Article Leveraging Existing Technology: Developing a Trusted Digital Repository for the U.S. Geological Survey Vivian B. Hutchison U.S. Geological Survey Tamar Norkin U.S. Geological Survey Madison L. Langseth U.S. Geological Survey Drew A. Ignizio U.S. Geological Survey Lisa S. Zolly U.S. Geological Survey Ricardo McClees-Funinan U.S. Geological Survey Amanda N. Liford U.S. Geological Survey Abstract As Federal Government agencies in the United States pivot to increase access to scientifc data (Sheehan, 2016), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has made substantial progress (Kriesberg et al., 2017). USGS authors are required to make federally funded data publicly available in an approved data repository (USGS, 2016b). This type of public data product, known as a USGS data release, serves as a method for publishing reviewed and approved data. In this paper, we present major milestones in the approach the USGS took to transition an existing technology platform to a Trusted Digital Repository. We describe both the technical and the non-technical actions that contributed to a successful outcome. We highlight how initial workfows revealed patterns that were later automated, and the ways in which assessments and user feedback infuenced design and implementation. The paper concludes with lessons learned, such as the importance of a community of practice, application programming interface (API)-driven technologies, iterative development, and user-centered design. This paper is intended to offer a potential roadmap for organizations pursuing similar goals. Received 23 September 2020 ~ Revision received 11 April 2021 ~ Accepted 11 April 2021 Correspondence should be addressed to Vivian B Hutchison, US Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, West 6 th Avenue & Kipling, Building 810, MS302, Lakewood, CO 80225 Email: vhutchison@usgs.gov The International Journal of Digital Curation is an international journal committed to scholarly excellence and dedicated to the advancement of digital curation across a wide range of sectors. The IJDC is published by the University of Edinburgh on behalf of the Digital Curation Centre. ISSN: 1746-8256. URL: http://www.ijdc.net/ Copyright rests with the authors. This work is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence, version 4.0. For details please see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ International Journal of Digital Curation 2021, Vol. 16, Iss. 1, 23 pp. 1 http://dx.doi.org/10.2218/ijdc.v16i1.741 DOI: 10.2218/ijdc.v16i1.741