Verizon’s ‘Full Transparency’ launches blockchain verification for news releases

What you need to know:

• Verizon is implementing a blockchain-verified record of changes to its news releases

• The Full Transparency initiative is a proof of concept built with open-source blockchain technology in partnership with Huge, MadNetwork and AdLedger

• The Full Transparency initiative has the potential to change the way companies communicate to their audiences

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon today announced the launch of Full Transparency by Verizon, a blockchain-based, open-source newsroom product designed to raise the bar for corporate accountability. This initiative seeks to transform how the Verizon Corporate Newsroom publishes news releases by providing an authoritative record of changes to public communications.

A lack of transparency has the potential to undercut corporate credibility. According to the 2020 Edelman Trust Barometer, nearly 60% of consumers globally believe that the media they consume is contaminated with untrustworthy information. Transparency in news releases is an important step that a company—particularly a publicly traded one—can offer. Full Transparency's goal is to change the way corporate newsrooms provide visibility to their readers and hold themselves accountable for what they communicate to the public. Official news releases that incorporate Full Transparency are tracked on the blockchain ledger, so news releases or statements can be treated as authoritatively reflecting what was intended to be released. All news releases published to the Verizon Newsroom will be secured and bound using cryptographic principles, so that subsequent changes can be tracked and contextualized.

“As a technology company that quite literally connects people to information, we are excited to bring Full Transparency to market—a product that, in its own quiet way, can help ensure corporate accountability and trust,” said Jim Gerace, Chief Communications Officer for Verizon. “We invite organizations across the world that prize transparency as much as we do to adopt blockchain-verified communication practices.”

“Full Transparency is an unmistakable stake in the ground for transparency and tech-forward thinking by a leading corporation,” said Marc Maleh, Group Vice President of Emerging Experiences at Huge. “As consumers rightly demand more accountability from their organizations, we are proud to partner with Verizon, MadNetwork, and AdLedger to roll out this initiative.”

"Blockchain has long been associated with cryptocurrency, but that is just the beginning of what it can do," said Adam Helfgott, Project Lead at MadNetwork. "MadNetwork is thrilled to power Verizon's approach, exploring how blockchain can be a critical part of enterprise software at scale, providing validation and authentication in the digital world."

The Full Transparency initiative is an extension of Citizen Verizon, a responsible business plan that drives economic, environmental and social advancement by promoting technology as a tool to improve communities, education and the workforce.

For more information regarding Full Transparency, please contact fulltransparency@verizon.com