A consortium of three universities – Athena University, Bellerophon Institute, and Chimera College – have partnered to create a shared digital repository for their research outputs. Each university has its own distinct governance structure, policies regarding data management, and IT infrastructure. In the context of ISO 16363:2012, which focuses on the audit and certification of trustworthy digital repositories, what would be the MOST effective initial step to establish a robust and unified organizational infrastructure for this collaborative repository, ensuring its long-term trustworthiness and compliance with the standard? Consider that each university has pre-existing, and potentially conflicting, policies on data retention, access control, and intellectual property rights. The collaborative repository aims to serve a diverse user base, including researchers, students, and the general public, and needs to demonstrate a commitment to long-term preservation and accessibility. The goal is to create a cohesive organizational structure that transcends the individual policies of the participating universities.