DMS Co. NetDocuments Ventures into Blockchain World

US-based DMS company NetDocuments has just announced that it has completed a ‘proof of concept’ (POC) of an integration of its cloud platform with a blockchain system.

The company said this POC enables ‘firms to validate document existence, details, status, and metadata via a verified and distributed digital ledger’. It’s not clear yet which specific blockchain system they used.

NetDocs goes on to say that ‘incorporating blockchain technology into NetDocuments’ governance platform enables sensitive and transactional documents to be verified by posting to an open-source digital ledger, validating document details such as canonization, approval, status, filing and other relevant document information’.

Verified documents will retain a blockchain ID, ensuring accuracy through a distributed digital trust network. The technology integration includes blockchain certification of content stored in NetDocuments as well as certification of contents in local device storage.

They are not the first legal tech company to explore this area, but perhaps one of the first legal DMS companies to do so. Previously, Artificial Lawyer has highlighted how IBM Watson and IBM’s Cognitive Legal team have looked at this, while Integra Ledger, the legal blockchain company has also moved in this direction. Also, experts at legal AI company, Seal Software, have set out plenty of thinking around the convergence of blockchain with other areas of legal tech, such as AI-driven doc review.

Bob Craig, CIO at BakerHostetler and NetDocuments customer, said: ‘Blockchain represents a new wave of innovation in the architecture of highly trustworthy systems. I believe it can cause transformation and disruption for the legal ecosystem at large and enable a whole new way for corporate counsel to manage their legal operations.’

Alvin Tedjamulia, CTO at NetDocuments, added: ‘Blockchain is the ultimate source of digital trust and verification. By combining blockchain’s decentralized digital trust with private and geo-aware data storage, dual-custody encryption keys, private Hardware Security Modules (HSM), Digital Loss Prevention (DLP), and policy-based data classification solutions, we are delivering on our promise to provide innovation and governance solutions that no other vendor is offering in the market today. Leveraging blockchain is a logical next step as part of our security and governance industry leadership.’