diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1c89ead..42f43c1 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
-        <version>2.7.17</version>
+        <version>2.7.18</version>
         <relativePath></relativePath>
     </parent>
 
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <properties>
-        <spring.boot.version>2.7.17</spring.boot.version>
+        <spring.boot.version>2.7.18</spring.boot.version>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -68,6 +68,24 @@
             <version>${spring.boot.version}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-boot-configuration-processor</artifactId>
+            <version>${spring.boot.version}</version>
+            <optional>true</optional>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
+            <artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId>
+            <version>${spring.boot.version}</version>
+            <optional>true</optional>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.springdoc</groupId>
+            <artifactId>springdoc-openapi-ui</artifactId>
+            <version>1.8.0</version>
+        </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
@@ -78,7 +96,13 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>eu.dnetlib.dhp</groupId>
             <artifactId>dnet-exporter-model</artifactId>
-            <version>3.5.0</version>
+            <version>[3.5.0, )</version>
+            <exclusions>
+                <exclusion>
+                    <groupId>org.springdoc</groupId>
+                    <artifactId>springdoc-openapi-common</artifactId>
+                </exclusion>
+            </exclusions>
         </dependency>
 
         <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.micrometer/micrometer-registry-prometheus -->
@@ -129,13 +153,6 @@
                 </exclusion>
             </exclusions>
         </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>eu.dnetlib</groupId>
-            <artifactId>dnet-openaire-usage-stats-sushilite-r5</artifactId>
-            <version>1.0.0</version>
-            <scope>system</scope>
-            <systemPath>${project.basedir}/libs/openaire-usage-stats-sushilite-r5-1.0.0.jar</systemPath>
-        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>eu.dnetlib</groupId>
             <artifactId>dnet-openaire-usage-stats-sushilite</artifactId>
@@ -157,6 +174,7 @@
                 </exclusion>
             </exclusions>
         </dependency>
+
         <dependency>
             <groupId>cglib</groupId>
             <artifactId>cglib-nodep</artifactId>
@@ -166,7 +184,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
             <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
-            <version>2.15.0</version>
+            <version>2.15.1</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -200,7 +218,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.json</groupId>
             <artifactId>json</artifactId>
-            <version>20231013</version>
+            <version>20240303</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -209,27 +227,11 @@
             <version>1.6.2</version>
         </dependency>
 
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.springdoc</groupId>
-            <artifactId>springdoc-openapi-webmvc-core</artifactId>
-            <version>1.7.0</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.springdoc</groupId>
-            <artifactId>springdoc-openapi-ui</artifactId>
-            <version>1.7.0</version>
-        </dependency>
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.springdoc</groupId>
-            <artifactId>springdoc-openapi-security</artifactId>
-            <version>1.7.0</version>
-        </dependency>
-
         <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.postgresql/postgresql -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
             <artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
-            <version>42.6.0</version>
+            <version>42.7.2</version>
         </dependency>
 
         <dependency>
@@ -406,6 +408,15 @@
     </build>
 
     <repositories>
+        <repository>
+            <id>central</id>
+            <name>Maven Central</name>
+            <url>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
+            <layout>default</layout>
+            <snapshots>
+                <enabled>false</enabled>
+            </snapshots>
+        </repository>
         <repository>
             <id>dnet45-bootstrap-snapshot</id>
             <name>D-Net 45 Bootstrap Snapshot</name>
@@ -460,6 +471,8 @@
                 <enabled>false</enabled>
             </releases>
         </repository>
+
+        <!-- Use this when testing local JARs. -->
         <!--<repository>
             <id>libs</id>
             <url>file:///${project.basedir}/libs</url>
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/repo/manager/service/RepositoryServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/repo/manager/service/RepositoryServiceImpl.java
index 77e1068..46b3d72 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/repo/manager/service/RepositoryServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/dnetlib/repo/manager/service/RepositoryServiceImpl.java
@@ -863,6 +863,8 @@ public class RepositoryServiceImpl implements RepositoryService {
                 new ParameterizedTypeReference<MetricsNumbers>() {
                 });
 
+        // TODO - the project "usagestats" returns "200-OK" even for an invalid datasourceID.. Report this to the person who manages usage-stats.
+
         return resp.getBody();
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application-context.xml b/src/main/resources/application-context.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a5fb66..0000000
--- a/src/main/resources/application-context.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
-       xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-       xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
-       xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
-               http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-4.0.xsd http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">
-
-
-    <context:annotation-config/>
-    <context:component-scan base-package="eu.dnetlib.repo.manager.service.*"/>
-
-    <bean class="eu.dnetlib.repo.manager.config.CascadingPropertyLoader"
-          id="propertyLoader">
-        <property name="order" value="2"/>
-        <property name="properties">
-            <bean class="eu.dnetlib.conf.WebappContextProperyFactory">
-                <property name="propertyFetcher">
-                    <bean class="eu.dnetlib.conf.PropertyFetcher"/>
-                </property>
-            </bean>
-        </property>
-        <property name="ignoreUnresolvablePlaceholders" value="true"/>
-        <property name="locations">
-            <list>
-                <value>classpath*:/gr/**/springContext-*.properties</value>
-                <value>classpath*:/eu/**/springContext-*.properties</value>
-
-                <value>classpath*:/application.properties</value>
-                <value>classpath*:email-texts.properties</value>
-
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-site-wizard.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-site-override.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-wizard.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-override.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-validator-wizard.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-validator-override.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-site-force-override.properties</value>-->
-                <!--                <value>classpath*:dnet-force-override.properties</value>-->
-            </list>
-        </property>
-    </bean>
-</beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/main/resources/application.yml b/src/main/resources/application.yml
index 5b3a5d5..b017111 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/application.yml
+++ b/src/main/resources/application.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ springdoc:
         displayRequestDuration: true
     api-docs:
         path: /api-docs
+    show-actuator: true
 
 spring:
     jpa: