making sense

What making sense does

Making Sense is a Paris-based, privately held IT consulting firm founded in 2022 that specializes in knowledge representation, metadata modeling, and data governance for organizations in official statistics, public research, and government. The firm operates with a core team of three collaborators: Franck Cotton (Director), Nicolas Laval (Lead Tech), and Romain Tailhurat (Project Manager), whose combined experience in SDMX, DDI, and UN ModernStats standards exceeds several decades.

The company's technical core spans semantic web technologies (RDF, SPARQL, linked data, ontologies), international statistical metadata standards (SDMX, DDI), and software development using open-source libraries across Java, TypeScript/JavaScript, and Python. Its flagship product is Trevas, an open-source Validation and Transformation Language (VTL) Java engine co-developed with the Bundesbank; Trevas 2.0.0 was released in September 2025 with a directed acyclic graph execution model. Beyond software, Making Sense delivers consulting across the full data lifecycle (acquisition, transformation, production, publication) and provides training in React and Semantic Web through the Human Coders partnership. Its stated customers include CASD (the French secure data access consortium) and Constances (a 200,000-adult epidemiological cohort), and the firm maintains active involvement in the DDI Alliance, UNECE ModernStats, and the SDMX Experts Workshop community.

Making Sense generates revenue through professional services: bespoke consulting engagements, custom software development, and training delivery. There is no disclosed pricing model or public rate card, and engagements appear to be quote-based. The firm is bootstrapped with no external funding, no parent company, and no disclosed ownership structure beyond its three collaborators. Its go-to-market relies on direct sales, thought-leadership content (blog, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon), and reputation within the international official-statistics standards community rather than paid acquisition or product-led distribution.

Name

making sense

Legal name

Making Sense

Website

https://making-sense.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Making Sense is a Paris-based, three-person IT consulting firm that delivers metadata modeling, semantic web, and SDMX/DDI standards consulting and custom software for government statistical agencies and public research institutions, anchored by its open-source Trevas VTL engine.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IT Consulting & Data Management Services

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Metadata, Catalog & Semantic Layer for Data Platforms (HDAEABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Data Quality, Profiling & Validation (within Integration) (HDAEACAI), Scientific Data Management & Data Platforms (SDMS/Data Lakehouse for R&D) (HLAGAJAC), Database/Application Data Layer Modernization (DB migration, ORM, caching) (BPAEAFAL)

Keywords

• Metadata management consulting
• Semantic web services
• Data governance consulting
• Statistical data standards
• Knowledge representation engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. IT Consulting Services: Expertise and consulting in metadata and data management covering all phases of the data lifecycle (acquisition, transformation, production, publication) and all stages of engineering projects: design, production, support, training.
2. Software Development: Custom software development using open source libraries for Java, TypeScript/JavaScript, and Python. High-quality development using agile deployment in distributed environments.
3. Training Services: Training delivery through Human Coders partnership covering React and Semantic Web technologies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Making Sense provides IT consulting and custom software development for metadata-driven ecosystems, specializing in data/metadata modeling, knowledge representation, semantic web technologies (RDF, SPARQL, ontologies), and official statistics standards (SDMX, DDI, UN ModernStats). The firm supports the full data lifecycle (acquisition, transformation, production, publication) through design, production, support, and training engagements. Its flagship technical asset is Trevas, an open-source Java VTL (Validation and Transformation Language) engine co-developed with the Bundesbank.

Product overview

Making Sense is an IT consulting and development company specializing in knowledge representation and organization, specifically in data and metadata modeling and governance for interoperability, standardization, and reuse. Their primary product is Trevas, an open-source VTL (Validation and Transformation Language) Java engine. They also provide consulting services in metadata management, data governance, semantic web technologies, and official statistics standards, as well as training programs in React and Semantic Web.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trevas Open-source VTL (Validation and Transformation Language) Java engine for data validation and transformation, enabling users to define rules and conditions to validate statistical data quality and perform transformations such as aggregations or calculations within the SDMX framework, including provenance tracking.
• IT Consulting Services Consulting expertise in metadata and data management covering all phases of the data lifecycle (acquisition, transformation, production, publication) and all stages of engineering projects: design, production, support, training. Targets official statistics agencies and public research organizations.
• Custom Software Development Custom software development using open source libraries for Java, TypeScript/JavaScript, and Python. High-quality development with agile deployment in distributed environments, covering semantic web, SDMX, DDI, and related data management tooling.
• Technical Training Training delivery through the Human Coders partnership covering React and Semantic Web technologies, helping developers gain hands-on skills in these areas.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• BIS (Bank for International Settlements) - sdmx.io teamcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration on SDMX tools and implementations. Nicolas from Making Sense presented at the 12th SDMX Experts Workshop on their joint work with the BIS sdmx.io team.
• DDI AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMaking Sense is an Associate Member of the Data Documentation Initiative Alliance, an international standard for describing data in social, behavioral, economic, and health sciences. The partnership involves active participation in standards development and promotion of DDI specifications.
• Human CodersminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHuman Coders is a French company offering training in web development and programming. Making Sense provides React and Semantic Web training courses through the Human Coders platform.
• meaningfulDatacoreTechnology or IntegrationmeaningfulData provides software and consulting on official statistics and regulatory reporting, with tools for data exchange formats (PySDMX, xBridge), data validation (VTL Engine, VTL Suite), and dissemination (SDMX Insight). Both organizations work in the SDMX/VTL ecosystem.
• sdmx.iocoreTechnology or Integrationsdmx.io is an ecosystem of open source tools, patterns, and resources for SDMX implementation. Making Sense collaborates with the BIS-led sdmx.io team, presenting at the 12th SDMX Experts Workshop.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• meaningfulData: French-Belgian firm offering software and consulting for official statistics and regulatory reporting (PySDMX, xBridge, VTL Engine, VTL Suite, SDMX Insight). Overlaps directly with Making Sense on SDMX/VTL tooling and serves the same statistical-agency customer base.
• Zazuko: Swiss company specializing in Linked Data, RDF, knowledge graphs, and data integration. Listed as a Making Sense partner; directly comparable as a small specialist consulting shop in semantic web for government and research.
• Sparna: French consulting firm expert in web of data, semantic knowledge graphs, SHACL data modeling, and migration to knowledge graphs. Direct peer in semantic web consulting services and open-source tooling (Sparnatural).
• GIDE: French technology partner to survey research institutes, public organizations and major brands, with 30+ years building solutions for large-scale survey and social/marketing research. Comparable as a small specialist serving the same official-statistics-adjacent survey/research market.

Emerging players

• BIS sdmx.io team: Bank for International Settlements-led open-source ecosystem for SDMX implementations. Strategic collaborator with Making Sense (joint presentations at 12th SDMX Experts Workshop); functions as a community-driven reference implementation rather than a competing vendor.

Others

• Bundesbank (VTL collaboration): Co-developer of Trevas VTL engine with Making Sense. A central bank rather than a competitor, but relevant as a public-sector reference architecture for metadata-driven statistical publishing.

Regional players

• OpenDataSoft: French data platform company focused on open data publishing, data portals, and interoperability for governments and enterprises. Adjacent in French public-sector data ecosystems but broader than Making Sense's metadata/semantic web focus.

Broad incumbents

• Collibra: Enterprise data catalog and governance platform serving large enterprises. Provides the broader, incumbent alternative in metadata cataloging and data governance against which specialist semantic-web consultants differentiate.
• Alation: Established data catalog and metadata management vendor. Represents the scaled, productized alternative to bespoke semantic-web metadata implementations.
• Stardog: Enterprise knowledge graph platform built on RDF/SPARQL, serving data integration and semantic interoperability use cases. Comparable technology stack to Making Sense's semantic web practice but at much greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/Making-Sense-Info
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/making-sense-info

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about making sense