The D-U-N-S Number was created in 1962 by Dun & Bradstreet and was later adopted by the US government in 1997. It is now recommended or required by over 200 government, trade, and industry organizations worldwide. The D-U-N-S Number is linked to more than 225 million businesses globally. The US government awards hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts annually, with the top industries being aircraft manufacturing, engineering services, and facilities support services.