DENVER, March 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Velocity Network Foundation®, a non-profit membership organization, on a mission to build the next-gen data utility layer underlying the global labor market, announced today the successful launch of its public permissioned blockchain network: the Internet of Careers®.
With Mainnet live:
- Any individual in the world can now download a digital wallet, curate their credentials, own them, control who has access to them, share them safely with other organizations – all for free.
- Any organization, education institution, licensing or certification body in the world can now issue trusted digital credentials to their constituents and be rewarded for doing so.
- Any technology or services provider in the HR and Education world can now build profitable business models around the issuing and inspection of verifiable digital credentials.
Velocity Network™ is a game changing, blockchain based, decentralized utility layer, that replaces the outdated, fragmented way talent represents their career reputation across the labor market. Instead of resumes and other self-reported online profiles, it makes it simple for people to claim and own signed and verifiable digital career credentials issued to them by work, school, certification provider or license issuer. These can include verified education, projects, work history, skills, and talent assessments. Individuals can choose with whom and when to share this information, and how others use this data. At the same time, employers, educational institutions, and others can instantly verify career data shared by applicants, students, and employees, seamlessly achieving significant reductions in the time and costs associated with talent processes, while reducing data reliability concerns and risks and supporting compliance. The Network is public, user-owned, aligns incentives, and redistributes value between all participants in the labor market.
Adherence to global data privacy and employment regulations is a key challenge thoughtfully addressed in the design of the Network. Velocity Network™ is a public permissioned network. Anyone can build on and connect to the Network, organizations are vetted by the Velocity Network Foundation® to be eligible to run nodes, manage consensus, and maintain the network. As of January 1st, 2022, the first group of decentralized, independent organizations, representing some of the leading software vendors and solutions providers in the HCM space, are operating 28 Velocity Network™ Mainnet nodes, laying down the backbone for the Internet of Careers®: AON, Cisive, Greenlight, HireRight, InfoMart, Joynd, Korn Ferry, Milch und Zucker, Randstad, Randa, RGF Staffing, UKG, Vero and Velocity Career Labs. This makes Velocity Network™ the world’s largest blockchain network for verifiable career credentials with additional organizations continuing to apply to run a node.
In addition to Velocity Network’s Mainnet, the launch of the Internet of Careers® also included the following elements:
- The Open-Source Tech Stack. Royalty-free software that enables participants to connect their systems to the Network, issue and verify credentials and build interoperable career credential wallets.
- The First Mobile Career Wallet App. A free mobile application by Velocity Career Labs™ that offers a simple and private way for individuals to claim their education and career credentials via Velocity Network™, store and manage them privately and share them with whomever they decide. Now downloadable from both App-Store and Google Play.
- The Utility Token and Payment Rails. The Velocity Credit token powers the entire decentralized network’s governance, incentivizing issuers of credentials and node operators, as well as the connected HR and education tech vendors and solutions providers. Coupled with the embedded payment rails it enables participants to create corporate value through the monetization of their participation, build new business models or enhance existing ones.
The launch of Mainnet Internet of Careers® comes exactly 18 months after the Foundation announced its deployment of Testnet, Velocity Network’s sandbox, enabling network participants, global leaders across HCM vendors, gig platforms, background and certification processors, assessment vendors, education institutions and training vendors, to test applications across labor market use cases with multi-vendor interoperability.
“Faced with the mega trends affecting the future of work: the talent shortage, the great resignation, the gig economy, the polarized job markets etc. all bets are on innovations in human resources technology to tackle these challenges,” says Dror Gurevich, Founder and CEO of Velocity Career Labs, the developer and instigator of Velocity Network™ and the Velocity Network Foundation®. “Yet, we still rely on costly, self-reported and unverified methods to exchange data about previous employment, professional achievements, and educational certifications, all of which are key to hiring efficiencies. The fragmented data exchange system is holding back digital transformation in the job market and preventing the mitigation of these most critical challenges. The Velocity Network™ is the ‘Great Transformer’ of the global labor market we’ve all been waiting for. It will radically change the way people navigate their career and livelihoods, and how employers make talent decisions.”
Etan Bernstein, Head of Ecosystems at the Velocity Network Foundation®, said, “When combined, the Velocity Network Foundation’s members hold career-related data for more than 1 billion individuals in their systems, including billions of professional and student credentials, assessments, and employment and contract work records spanning job information, pay histories, competencies and more.” He continued, “With dozens of leading HCM software vendors and solution providers preparing to launch their solutions on top of Velocity Network during 2022 we are excited to see the inevitable ripple effect it will have on the global labor market. We see continued enthusiasm and adoption by major global leaders across the workforce and education markets with new pivotal vendors joining every month.”
About the Velocity Network Foundation®
The Velocity Network Foundation® is a nonprofit organization established in 2019, hosting the world’s largest vendors and solution providers in HR and education space. The Foundation exists to govern the use of the Velocity Network™ by all involved parties; continuously building the rulebook, a common framework that ensures operational consistency and legal clarity for every transaction; promoting global adoption and support among stakeholders and constituents; guiding the development of the decentralized protocols; and supporting research and development of applications and associated services, while fostering a community of open-source developers.
For more information about Velocity Network Foundation® visit www.velocitynetwork.foundation.com
Media Contact:
Aurelia Greystoke
Velocity Career Labs
aurelia.greystoke@velocitycareerlabs.com
Quotes from participating organizations
Jouko van Aggelen, Chief Portfolio & Innovation Officer at Aon’s Assessment Solutions practice:
“Onboarding new people and applying for a new job have never been so easy, all candidate information and credentials can be stored and shared via your career wallet and the best of all, you — the individual, consumer, employee, or applicant — are in complete control. It is your data, and you can decide when and with whom you want to share it.
“We are proud to be one of the founding members of the Velocity Foundation. At Aon, we exist to shape decisions for the better, while protecting and enriching the lives of people around the world. Supporting the Internet of Careers® and applying blockchain technology in the world of work matches seamlessly with our ambitions. Velocity and the career wallet don’t have any boundaries. The network truly democratizes talent data, allowing people to store and share information on their unique talent with the world in a more equal, inclusive and global way than ever before.”
James Owens, CEO at Cisive
"Cisive and our partners at the Velocity Network Foundation are shaping the future of human capital management with the launch of the Internet of Careers,” said James Owens, CEO at Cisive. “Today marks a huge step forward for both employers and job candidates, who can immediately begin to reap the benefits of the latest HCM technology including the first digital career wallet. Time to hire has remained a key challenge for employers, but our latest technology can help address the key challenges companies face in today’s talent landscape. This is a very exciting accomplishment that will benefit employers and candidates for many years to come!”
Conal Thompson, Chief Technology Officer at HireRight
“HireRight is proud to contribute to Velocity Network’s blockchain infrastructure, through which candidates can instantly receive and share their career credentials – all the while having control over their data in a secure and privacy-protecting way,” said Conal Thompson, HireRight’s Chief Technology Officer. “We are proud to join the other industry-leading companies involved in the Velocity Network Foundation® to help people and organizations exchange verifiable career credentials.”
Tammy Cohen, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer at InfoMart
“The future of HR digitalization has arrived, and the Velocity Network Foundation® is at the center of it all," said Tammy Cohen, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of InfoMart. “We believe this technology will drive measurable change for candidates and employers. It provides a simple solution for job seekers to manage their careers, open up their opportunities, and further their economic possibilities.”
Dianna Sheppard, CEO of Joynd
“We welcome the release of the Velocity Network™ Mainnet,” says Dianna Sheppard, CEO of Joynd, a company focused on integrating HR systems and services. “As an early contributor and active member of the Velocity Network Foundation®, Joynd looks forward to assisting its customers and other HR technology vendors in connecting to the Internet of Careers®.”
Marty Reed, CEO of RANDA Solutions
“RANDA Solutions is excited to partner with the Velocity Network Foundation® at the dawn of verifiable credential exchange. Enabling individuals with agency over their skills and credentials as an exchange of value with education institutions and employment opportunities speeds up the entire ecosystem’s ability to get the right person, in the right place at the right time. This is a pioneering time in the credentials world and Velocity Network™ is moving the market forward.”
Michael Whitmer, Global CIO, RGF Staffing
“RGF Staffing is committed to creating a world whereby the resume is 100% digital and privacy is ‘by design’. This solution ensures that every individual has complete control of their data by deciding who has access and when. This is only possibly by leveraging the blockchain security model.”
Jill Popelka, SAP SuccessFactors, President
“Employees expect and deserve agency over their career credentials,” said Jill Popelka, SAP SuccessFactors President. “Careers are becoming much more fluid, and individuals are looking for more learning and growth opportunities that extend beyond a person’s current job responsibilities. The launch of the Velocity Network’s Mainnet represents an important step in helping individuals not only demonstrate their experience and credentials, but to take ownership of how they curate, manage and share their data.”
Reddy Karry, CEO at Vetty
“Vetty was founded on the idea that no one should be surprised by or restricted from their own background data. We imagine a world where pre-verified, open-to-work people are instantly connected with perfectly aligned opportunities, compliantly and bias-free. We're excited to be a part of making that a reality with Velocity Network Foundation's Internet of Careers®.”
John Healy, Vice President; Blockchain Taskforce Chair at The World Employment Confederation
“The World Employment Confederation and its’ members recognize the importance of taking friction out of the process of connecting people with work, and we are deeply appreciative of the progress that Velocity Network™ has made is building a coalition of likeminded organizations. As Mainnet launches, and in recognizing the hard work that member organizations have done (and will continue to do), we stand with pride witnessing the transformational impact this represents for the new world of work.”
Madhu Nori, Chief Commercial Officer at YOTI
"As one of the early members of the Velocity Network™, we are excited to see the launch of the Velocity Network Mainnet. Digital Identity is the foundation of this credential network, and we are delighted to be supporting the Velocity Career Labs’ Wallet as the Identity Verification partner and issue Identity credentials into the Velocity Network™. Career credentials make up an important part of people's identity these days and giving people the ability to verify and share their credentials securely is incredibly important to YOTI. We'll soon be publishing Yoti Digital ID as a Career Wallet on the Velocity Network™, empowering users with a reusable digital ID that gives them a safe way to share personal details and credentials."
