If you've ever tried to verify the origin of a product, part, or ingredient in a supply chain — who certified it, which registry backs the claim — you'll know: it can be harder than it should be.
Global supply chains are messy. Authoritative information is scattered, its authenticity is often difficult to prove and it's not set up to be used easily. Yet, registries are the official sources that underpin claims about identity, legitimacy, and compliance across borders.
The UN Transparency Protocol (UNTP) is tackling the challenges of digital trust at scale. And a new United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) project called the Global Trust Registry has just been launched to help surface, verify and use registries.
The work is part of a broader push toward supply chain transparency, sustainability reporting, and verifiable trade — and (just like with the UNTP) Australians are playing key roles in its design and trust architecture.
Extending the work of the UNTP, which has defined a Digital Identity Anchor (DIA) credential, the Global Trust Registry project will support the verification of the DIA by enabling access to the appropriate authoritative registry.
The Global Trust Registry is intended to make it easier to verify "who's who" in the world of supply chains and certifications. Think of it as a future global index of trusted sources — not a central database, but a reference layer that will help answer the critical question behind every claim: "Says who?" It will be leveraging existing registries owned by each of the national jurisdictions.
The Global Trust Registry will define and develop implementation guidelines, support pilot implementations, and provide a governance framework to help supply chain transparency scale in a verifiable, trustworthy, and open way.
Australians Leading Global Trust Frameworks
John Phillips, an Australia-based expert in digital trust frameworks, is co-leading the project. He puts it simply:
"If we want global transparency and digital trust to scale, we have to be able to go back to the sources of truth ... the registries that prove who's who. This project is about making that visible and verifiable, without trying to control it. Every country runs its own registers. This will help those who need them be able to find them."
With a background spanning public and private sector leadership in identity, verifiable credentials, and governance frameworks, Phillips brings deep experience to the table. He has contributed to numerous open data, digital ID, self-sovereign identity and trust infrastructure projects and plays a central role in several UNTP initiatives.
Jo Spencer, co-founder of Australian consultancy-focused startup Sezoo alongside Phillips, is contributing to the project. Sezoo promotes and progresses the use of verifiable credentials and decentralised interaction models to strengthen digital trust and enhance customer interactions. Spencer brings more than 35 years' experience across software products, payments, banking systems, and digital identity, including past leadership roles at ANZ bank and ongoing work with fintechs, banks, and regulators. His focus for the Global Trust Registry is on design, adoption, and the use of open standards.
The Global Trust Registry project is supported by Australia-based Steven Capell, Vice Chair of UN/CEFACT.
With over two decades of involvement in UN/CEFACT, Capell has contributed significantly to global digital trade standards. He chaired its architecture working group, led the development of key white papers on verifiable credentials and transparency at scale, and is a key contributor to the development of the UNTP.
A Moment for Australia
From protocol design and digital trust framework development to supply chain transparency pilots and early UNTP adoption, Australia continues to lead on the world stage — helping shape the infrastructure and standards that will underpin verifiable global trade.
Pyx is also an Australian tech company and we're proud to support this momentum by:
- Sharing these updates
- Highlighting Australia's critical contributions
- Contributing to a range of projects happening in Australia (including AgTrace and the Australian Agriculture Traceability Protocol) and around the world as UNTP implementation accelerators ourselves.
Global trust isn't a given but can be built — carefully, thoughtfully, and together.
Useful Links:
Call for Participation (via LinkedIn)
UN/CEFACT Global Trust Registry project page
Join the Pyx Community!
- 📢 Chat on Pyx Zulip – Join real-time conversations with the community
- 💬 Join the Pyx Forums – Engage in discussions about the UNTP and related topics