KIR Durable medium

A durable medium is entering a new stage of development in Poland. Thanks to the unique combination of blockchain technology and WORM storage in the cloud, the solution created by KIR in partnership with Hitachi and with the participation of OChK and IBM can be used by Polish companies for fast and secure electronic distribution of private documents. PKO Bank Polski was the first to make this tool available in contacts with its clients.

Durable medium is the future of digitization when it comes to contacts with customers. Under regulatory requirements, the tool ensures that documents are invariable and irremovable, while alerting the users to any instances of their dispatching. It enables each and every customer document, from the first version to the latest, to be stored in a safe and secure way and to be accessible at any time from anywhere, even after the end of the contract. Thanks to the cooperation of KIR, Hitachi, Operator Chmury Krajowej (OChK) and IBM, the first such cloud-based solution is now available in Poland, uniquely combining blockchain and WORM technologies.

A durable medium allows the distribution of private documents relating to specific users, in compliance with all legal requirements, including GDPR. The clients of a given institution will be able to log in to a dedicated portal and immediately gain access to all information. Whats more, they will also be able to make sure that files have not been changed without their knowledge - this functionality is supported by blockchain technology.

Durable medium from KIR

In 2018, KIR, together with PKO Bank Polski, IBM and Accenture, developed a durable medium using blockchain technology. Its implementation at PKO Bank Polski was the first practical implementation of this technology in the Polish financial sector. Due to the legal conditions related to distributed registers, this version of the durable medium could only be used for the distribution of non-individualized public documents, such as banking regulations.

KIR's durable medium is available in a full range of functionalities. The launch of a version based not only on blockchain, but also on an object storage with WORM technology, makes it a tool that meets all legal requirements for the distribution of bank documents in Poland. Its usefulness can also be used by companies from many other industries that have and use sensitive information. In addition to banking, these include medical, telecommunications and insurance sectors.

The latest version of a durable medium from KIR is a versatile tool that offers comprehensive electronic distribution of documents of all types. Thanks to the simultaneous use of the WORM storage in cloud, blockchain technology and trust services, a system unique on a European scale was created. Our solution enables safe and convenient transmission of public information, such as price lists and service regulations, as well as private documents assigned to specific users. The first implementation of this solution in the largest retail bank on the market is an indication of further dynamic development of digitization processes in the Polish economy - says Piotr Alicki, President of the Management Board of KIR.

How does KIR's new durable service work?

The use of blockchain technology enables easy verification of the originality of documents, both by any interested entity and a private person, in a dedicated service portal. The immutability of each document is controlled by the electronic decentralized register from the beginning of the solutions operation. The durable medium uses a retention module that allows you to store documents for the time required by regulations. The requirement of invariability and immovability of documents is ensured by the WORM storage. The key element of the solution is also the business engine, i.e. the service layer integrating WORM and blockchain technologies, and the presentation layer (bank's internet banking, KIR portal) implementing all necessary processes related to the publication of documents on a durable medium. Thanks to this combination of several technologies, the new durable medium service from KIR meets all the conditions set by the regulator and may replace other forms of paper communication. Thus, it opens banks in Poland for a digital tomorrow, helping them to replace traditional methods of contacting customers with fully electronic solutions.

The practical and cost-effective implementation of this solution by end-users is possible thanks to Operator Chmury Krajowej, which has implemented one of the largest WORM storage instances in the country in its two processing centers. OChK not only provides secure storage for WORM, but also provides a comprehensive container platform for a durable medium business application.

The private blockchain network functioning in the solution was created in cooperation with IBM Poland. The use of the opensource Hyperledger Fabric technology guarantees the banks transparency towards the client.

The heart of the solution is the WORM (Write once, read many) object storage from Hitachi, which ensures the immutability and immovability of the documents stored on it, as well as the invariability of the metadata describing them, while maintaining the requirements of the GDPR - explains Tadeusz Woszczy ski, Country Manager Poland, Austria, Czech Rep., Slovakia & Baltics at Hitachi Europe Ltd. As part of the project with KIR, we also delivered a HCPortal application, which is the business engine of the solution. Everything has been implemented in the cloud and integrated with the HLF blockchain network, in which the checksum of published documents is stored. Thanks to this connection, the banks client can be sure that the document, e.g. a statement, has not been subjected to any interference - which can be confirmed at any time by verification - and

LINK:	https://www.hitachi.eu/en/kir-durable-medium...
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