Brief History

   The first chambers of commerce were established in the year 1599 to help facilitate trade and associated trust by traveling traders. By the 1990ies, the organization had expanded to almost 13,000 chambers worldwide (local, regional, national, bi-lateral etc), with a combined membership of over 40 million businesses in 160+ countries....

This also reflects the different types of chambers of commerce and boards of trade in the world:  In some jurisdictions, they are public bodies with mandatory business membership and an expanded service palette (such as issuing business licenses and official trade documentation); in other countries, they are non-profit organizations that do not require 'automatic membership' by a business...

By the mid-1990ies, many chambers and businesses were making their first tentative steps in 'global online' commerce.  In 1997, the WCN was established as the official digital backbone and global online chamber hub. The founding institutions were the Paris [Ile-de-France Regional] Chamber of Commerce and Industry (one of the largest metropolitan chamber of commerce in the world with over 800,000 businesses),  and a division of the International Chamber of Commerce. 
  

   In 2003, ChamberTrust Management International (CTMI) was incorporated in Vancouver, Canada as a basic trust to administer technologies and specific online WCN trust programs, such as the original ChamberTrust seal,  and CTMI/Chamber-eVault.. Soon after, all of WCN's online services were handled by CTMI and its technical partners.
   
  WCN's founding institutions and partners prepared to incorporate and develop WCN as a full commercial venture.  Meanwhile, CTMI had expanded to cover non-chamber applications as well with programs such as the Chamber-eVault family, and other cloud computing-type services, for all kinds of business clients...
  
   By the fall of 2016, CTMI was entrusted by the WCN founding partners to run the WCN project as a real commercial venture...the WCN global chamber hub and its digital chamber services still being serviced by the same URL as before.  

   In the fourth quarter of 2017, CTMI adds an expanded digital business services portfolio that services ALL businesses, academia, NGOs and public sectors worldwide - with an emphasis on 'trust', 'level playing field in global exposure', and 'trusted trade facilitation', including Intellectual Property Protection. It reflects its trusted roots going back to 1599... and CTMI's modern ownership reflects this via its mix of private, business, chamber and other related interests..