D&B Unit Focuses On Online Validation Of Businesses

Dun & Bradstreet Corp. last month unveiled a new subsidiary called eccelerate.com that will leverage the business information firm's global database to perform online authentication, validation, and business credentialing for e-commerce. "Eccelerate.com will take advantage of D&B's unique global information database to bring companies together online and drive continued growth in electronic commerce," observes Lynne Harvey, senior analyst at Patricia Seybold Group, an information technology research firm. Companies will be able to access D&B's database of more than 57 million businesses worldwide via the Internet. Frank Sowinski, president of D&B's operating company, says the new unit will "enhance trust in the identity of trading partners and deliver objective, global business information seamlessly at the very instant of every business to business transaction." Eccelerate.com will provide authentication and verification services, issue credentials in the form of embedded digital certificates using D&B D-U-N-S numbers, and offer an information broker service containing real-time information about buyers and sellers. D&B is working with VeriSign Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based provider of Internet-based security systems, to ensure the security, reliability, and trustworthiness of online transactions.