Large-scale pilots of a UN Transparency Protocol extension are now underway in the US (October 2025–February 2026). This is a significant milestone in global supply chain transparency.
The Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) has announced a large-scale, real-world pilot of the Responsible Business Transparency Protocol (RBTP), an extension of the United Nations Transparency Protocol (UNTP), with pilot activities now underway across supply chains focused on critical minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium, and tantalum. The announcement marks a significant step forward for industry-wide efforts to scale verifiable transparency.
The pilots involve more than 20 organisations, including upstream producers, downstream buyers, standards bodies, technology partners, and a government agency. They focus on critical minerals that underpin modern electronics, from EV batteries to smartphones.
The goal: to show how a protocol built for traceability, auditability, and interoperability can work under complex, real-world conditions.
A Protocol, Not a Platform
The RBTP is a data exchange protocol grounded in the United Nations standards, including Recommendation No. 49, and built on open standards such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) verifiable credentials. Importantly, it is not a platform, meaning it doesn't seek to centralise or replace existing systems. Instead, it provides the protocols needed to move trusted data across systems and tiers, preserving both privacy and interoperability.
Think of it like this: instead of relying on spreadsheets, PDFs, or siloed platforms to share sustainability and other data, companies issue UNTP compliant digital credentials. With a simple scan of a bar code or QR code or click of a url link, these can be accepted, passed along and checked by others either manually or using existing tools and platforms. Data stays with the owner, with the owner deciding what data gets shared.
Why This Pilot Matters
This is no niche project. The RBA is a nonprofit industry coalition with 600+ members, including many of the world's most recognisable brands, managing supply chains of thousands of suppliers across every continent. Member companies span every tier and geography of global production across the electronics, automotive, retail, and industrial sectors, and generate more than $8 trillion in combined annual revenue.
That scale — and the RBA's cross-sector mandate to promote ethical and sustainable practices across global supply chains — makes the organisation uniquely positioned to pilot and pressure-test the protocols needed to make supply chain transparency real. And to make it visible between suppliers and buyers, across tiers and platforms. This kind of pilot program is more than a proof-of-concept in action. It's a market signal.
The actions of the RBA and its membership have the potential to drive real change. This project shows a practical path forward: scalable, verifiable, supply chain transparency is achievable.
Inside the RBTP Pilots: What's Being Tested and Why
Global supply chains are extremely complex. Regulations are evolving and tightening. ESG scrutiny is intensifying. Tariff regimes increasingly require provenance and other documentation. Companies must be able to verify claims ranging from proof of origin to sustainability.
The pilots are designed to move beyond theory, surfacing concrete lessons for both implementation and interoperability and delivering:
- Quantifiable insights on implementation cost and effort
- Validation of the RBTP as a flexible, scalable protocol and the UNTP in practice
- Clarity on how traceability and sustainability claims can be trusted and reused
- Portability of supplier credentials across systems and platforms
Hosted by RBA and coordinated by Pyx Global, the pilots will look at scenarios including:
- Handling partial or missing data
- Linking chain of custody claims across supply chain tiers
- Accommodating different sharing and security preferences and tech maturity levels
- Verifying due diligence certifications across platforms
Pyx Global's Role
As the UNTP acceleration partner supporting the RBA's pilot program, Pyx Global is working closely with members and technical collaborators to help implement the RBTP. Our role includes adapting the protocol to reflect sector-specific needs, ensuring alignment with core UNTP architecture, and helping translate complex infrastructure into practical, deployable tools.
Zachary Zeus, CEO of Pyx Global, said:
"The challenges with supply chain transparency are both technical and operational. These pilots are about proving that even with incomplete data, different systems, and varied readiness levels, supply chain actors can still exchange trusted information in ways that are verifiable and usable."
The ripple effects and learnings from this program are reshaping how traceability works across industries and around the world.
What's Next: Pilot Findings at RBA's Annual Conference in November
Pilot insights and scenarios will be shared at the Responsible Business 2025 conference:
Dates: November 11–14, 2025
Location: National Harbor, Maryland
Session: Case Studies: Toward Supply Chain Transparency – Piloting UNTP
Speakers include: Apoorav Trehan, Principal Architect, Cloud Supply Chain, Microsoft
As Trehan notes (See RBA LinkedIn post):
"Transparency is only meaningful if it's practical. These pilots are helping us understand what works in reality, not just in theory."