Tuesday 9 October 2012

Digitizing for eDiscovery


 

Document & eDocument Management Services

·         Storage

·         Retrieval

·         Scanning

·         Reference

·         Format Conversion

·         Back up & Recovery

·         Indexing

·         Analysis

Traditional paper business serves a market place whereby it provides a value proposition to the end customer

·         Secure & Safe

·         Accessible

·         Data-protection

·         Meets regulatory requirements for retention

·         Reduces storage space

·         Cost effective storage, indexation

·         Evidential chain of control

The above is derived as a result of:

·         Physical security and business process

·         Economies of scale in storage and processing

·         Core competence in document management.

·         Retrieval of original versions

In the move to the Digital domain, the same propositions must be in place but they must cover the digital process and content.

·         Digital security for service provider stored and processed content

·         Digital security for returned digital content.

·         Indexation and Analysis (Faster & Cheaper)

·         Storage, Search and retrieval (Faster & Cheaper)

·         Regulatory compliance ecommerce (confirm provenance and unaltered)

·         Data protection compliance (Access & Distribution)

·         Cost effective storage, retrieval, processing and analysis. (Faster, Cheaper and more comprehensive)

·         Evidential chain of control (locked down, audit trail, records, verification)

The above is derived from

·         Knowledge, experience and processes for handling traditional paper documents

·         Hardware technology for scanning, conversion, storage and retrieval

·         Software technology for indexation, analysis, processing and security

·         Introduction of new services and processes.

The move to the digital world must co-exist with legacy paper based business , carry forward the features and propositions that traditionally exist and deliver the new value propositions the digital world can provide without compromising on compliance, security and confidentially.

The Digiprove Value Proposition to the Document & eDocument business

Fundamentally Digiprove is an enabling technology, it’s the glue that allows the adoption of new hardware and software technologies and processes , and it is the technology that enables the preservation of traditional values of safety, security and compliance in the move to digital, while mitigating the new risks that arise as a result of digital systems.

By establishing at the point digital content enters or is created in the business/service  process, a digital fingerprint and a certificate of provenance and authenticity which can be verified at any time on or off line the ability to guarantee the integrity of that content is secured. This process can be repeated at any point or multiple points in the digital process should it be required. There is a forensic chain for the digital evidence created.

Digiprove Value Proposition

·         Digital content security & safety

·         Forensic chain of digital evidence locked down

·         Anytime & anyplace verification of digital content provenance, integrity and authenticity.

·         Independent digital security certification

·         Compliance with Industry, Legal, Data protection & e Commerce Act

·         Core Business Benefits enabled (Faster, Cheaper, Richer Document processing and analysis) through the use of a full range of digital technologies.

What in it for the end customer for digital document services:

·         Assurance once they hand over control of digital data or paper data for conversion to digital that they will always be able to verify its integrity and authenticity.

·         Assurance that the admissibility of any of their digital content as evidence for legal, regulatory compliance or business decisions can be verified.

·         Ability to reduce or eliminate dependence of physical paper records and processing.

·         Faster, better and cheaper management of information for any business purpose.

  

Without Digiprove

·         Digital document content cannot be proven as an exact representation of the original content beyond all doubt.

·         It is costly and time consuming to identify if digital content has been tampered with.

·         It may be difficult to get a 3rd party to accept the provenance, integrity and authenticity of the document.

·         Dilution of the cost and flexibility benefits that can be derived from the digital world

 

Thursday 13 September 2012

Irish company Digiprove announces Text & Tweet Protect


Irish company Digiprove announces  Text & Tweet Protect

During the recent Presidential TV debate where information from a Tweet was used live during the debate and it was later admitted the Tweets claim was false, however the damage was done to the leading Independent candidate. Following this incident and several others where high profile individuals were misrepresented and a series of malicious Tweets issued, Digiprove looked to developing a simple, cost effective solution using its patented digital content security technology, which would enable greater trust in who is Tweeting? And what they have Tweeted?

This week they released the first in a planned series of on-line solutions for social media content provenance, integrity and authenticity protection and verification for Twitter.

Twitter offer a verification mark for high profile celebrities and individuals which has comprehensive identity verification and a blue mark is added to these user names on Twitter, however this option is not freely available to the masses.

“What is important is that the reader of a Tweet knows the Tweet is from a credible source, and what was read in the Tweet is actually what the Tweeter sent. The Digiprove text function achieves this allowing the reader of the Tweet check the digital certificate for that Tweet by following a short link inserted into the Tweet, says Digiprove CEO Cian Kinsella”

Digiprove is an Irish technology company who provide solutions for individuals and business  to protect any type of Digital content, securing its provenance, integrity and authenticity and enabling any 3rd party verify these on-line. Users of the patented technology include individuals wishing to protect their copyright to businesses who have integrated the Digiprove process into their own software. The technology has applications in many business arenas including Regulatory compliance, Digital evidence & eDiscovery, creating trust in digital content and creating tamper evidence. Anywhere Digital information is used to make important decisions or take action either by an individual or an organisation this technology secures trust in the digital content used.

For more information visit.




 

 

 

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Digital Transaction & Process integrity (Creating certification & user confidence)


Digital Transaction & Process integrity (Creating certification & user confidence)

Personal & Business people carry out many of their daily functions on-line in this digital age, but how do suppliers of on-line information and services create greater confidence in the user so they can grow their business, create deeper engagement and increase the user confidence to carry out more critical transactions with your on-line service?  The answer is about creating more trust.

In the on-line world, how do we create this trust? The answer lies in ensuring there is a chain of authentic evidence in the process that delivers your service, and that the user of the service can independently verify this chain of evidence with an independent specialist in digital content assurance. OK so what does that mean for the user? On-line users of services are very familiar with the standard security processes and brands, e.g. passwords, user authentication emails, SSL, Norton, Secure payment systems such as Visa, Realex, etc. All these components go to building trust for the user. In addition some service providers go the extra mile and use more complex and expensive certified keys and encryption, though this often comes with an over-head for the user.

How can we improve that user trust & confidence?

There are three key areas that need to be addressed in a simple and cost effective manner:

1.       Source Identity Integrity & Authenticity

a.       Is this person, company or entity, who they represent themselves to be?

2.       Content Provenance & Integrity

a.       Is the content (Digital) the original, un-tampered and as issued?

3.       Verification of Identity & Integrity

a.       Can I confirm with one click 1 & 2 above?

For the supplier of on-line services & information whether they be process based or transaction based, the question is how can I build these characteristics into my software in a simple and cost effective manner?

For the User when using the on-line service, is it obvious and intuitive that any information and service I use on this web-site I can trust, and if I have a concern can I independently verify the provenance, Integrity & Authenticity with one click of the mouse?

How to build in trust and certification to your software?

Digiprove’s patented and certified technology is a unique way to quickly and cost effectively build in a traceable, certified and verifiable set of functionality. By use of one of the Digiprove products or quickly embedding the process using our software developers kit (SDK).

What can be achieved by embedding Digiprove in your solution?

The most important outcome is your on-line service and information is differentiated because it has independently verifiable credentials, enabled by Digiprove.

·         End user customers and embedded partners have independent verification of their identity and can use the ID-V logo on their digital certificates.

·         Each piece of digital content (Text, Image, Audio, Video, Data), can at any stage in the process be quickly certified by the Digiprove “Proof Engine” as an automated task. This creates an audit trail and independently verifiable certificate with the digital fingerprint, date, time and location which is undisputable evidence and proof of authenticity.

·         The ability for a user or receiver of the content to either on or off-line verify the provenance, integrity and authenticity of the digital content as well as the credentials of the originator.

The bottom line is by deploying Digiprove technology any Digital Asset which has a value whether financial, reputational, brand or compliance can have that value protected.

Protecting On-Line Reputation


On-Line Reputation Management

Whether you are a business, not-for profit organisation, band, or individual your reputation and brand is important to you. We often differentiate between the on-line and off-line brand and reputation but for most they are closely connected all bit it there may be some slightly different emphasis on-line.  The one common thing is that in the world of today, which is a digital world is that our reputation can be damaged in milliseconds either accidentally or maliciously. Digital technology brings huge benefits in the flexibility to create, change and mass communicate content and information, but this benefit comes with risks that have to be managed.

So what are the risks?

There are two main digital risks that expose your reputation:-

1.       Identity Fraud or Theft

2.       Message tampering

Identity Fraud relates to known or unknown persons or entities misrepresenting themselves as someone else, or some other entity (Band, Association, Company, Organisation). Having adopted a false identity they then communicate misinformation that, as a minimum may be misleading and disruptive and, at worst be libellous and cause serious if not fatal damage to a reputation. Regardless of the extent of the misrepresentation there is a cost to those that are misrepresented and many other related stakeholders.

Message Tampering is the situation where what is communicated and interpreted by the reader has been changed either accidentally or maliciously. The ability even for the amateur hacker to change digital content is strong, given the nature of digital content, and the professional hacker can make changes and leave no record or evidence.

The bottom line is it’s relatively easy to adopt a false identity and to change digital data, text and tweets as examples.

How can I protect my on-line reputation?

Identity Fraud

There are many solutions, Twitter for example provide an identity verification and mark for high profile individuals, however they choose who will get the benefit of this process and, it is only offered to a relatively small number of famous people/entities.

Digiprove have enabled their technology process in order that anyone can add a significant layer of protection to their identity. By becoming a paid user of Digiprove’s on-line digital content protection service your Identity will be verified using your credit card details and so long as you have a credit card in the same name as your account registration. Once you have Digiproved your content or issued a tweet from Digiprove we associate  your content/ tweet with your identity. Readers of your content/tweets will be able to quickly verify you have an identity verified mark on www.digiprove.com at the click of the mouse.

Content & Tweet Tampering

In addition to ensuring your personal identity remains authentic, you are also concerned that your content/tweet is received un- tampered and the reader sees it exactly as you intended. By using the Digiprove functionality all your content/messages will be certified. This means there is a digital certificate created, which includes the unique digital fingerprint of your message, the date, time and your identity at the time you create your message. Any readers of your content whether it be documents, images, web pages etc. can verify the integrity on-line and view the certificate.

Digiprove inserts a short link into your tweet that all readers can see. By clicking on that link any reader can view the certificate details and also they can cut and paste the text should they wish and have the Digiprove proof engine confirm its integrity and authenticity, any tampering will be evident.

 

 

Monday 3 September 2012

Entrepreneurs Master Class Module 1


 
Entrepreneur’s Master Class (Module 1) Overview 
Entrepreneur’s start with a business idea or opportunity they perceive as having potential. Depending on their experience and knowledge they approach the opportunity in different ways. This master class is designed to provide entrepreneurs with an overall approach that will minimise risks and optimise their ability to succeed. It will outline what are the important deliverables and things to do to move from idea/opportunity to the next stage of starting to create a proposition in a way that is sustainable. It will provide approaches, tools and advice so that they can follow some proven processes, and they will learn to avoid early stage pitfalls.

What are some of the pitfalls?

·         An interesting idea but too difficult or expensive to create.

·         “This is a new market” there is no competition

·         A solution to a known problem but not practical for the customer.

·         “One we have the product it will run off the shelves”

·         An innovative opportunity but only a small niche market for it

·         The entrepreneurs enthusiasm exceeds the competence required to deliver

·         The available expertise and resources are not sufficient to support investment required.

·         Where do I start?

·         Who can help me?

Objective of Module

Participants on completion of the Module will have a clear understanding of what is important at each stage of creating a new business. They will have the knowledge to decide what is important for them to focus on at the start of a business in the context of their own business. They will have a set of tools to enable them confirm the viability and practicality of their business idea/opportunity and they will have created some foundations for the business.

Some topics that will be covered

·         The proposition/solution creates the opportunity but what problem does it solve, or what is the true opportunity.

·         Is there a market and how big is that market? (How to find out?)

·         What will be required to bring the product/service to market?

·         Competitive analysis (How will we compete?)

·         What resources & competencies are required (Where can they be sources?)

·         Research versus Development

·         How can I get help? (Advice and support available)

·         Sources & Types of finance

·         Some things to do now, that do not have immediate payback but have long term benefit

For further information or to register http://intelligentorg.com/?page_id=411

 

Monday 30 July 2012

Selecting a cost effective, compliant Document & File management solution for financial advisors, agents and brokers ?


Selecting a cost effective, compliant Document & File management solution for financial advisors, agents and brokers ?

As I meet with financial specialist clients, whether a one person operation or a large professional practice, a common theme has emerged about the time wasted handling, processing & searching for documents. Both the professionals and the back office team lose productive time with these non-productive activities. We have quantified and costed these activities as an additional 15%-20% on  your operational costs.
Searching to find the correct documents one of the team needs, which may be related to a client query or a need to reference  during a client meeting out of the office, or perhaps to confirm compliance or provide a supplier with some important policy or client information, is a well understood example the industry can relate to.

Documentation is very important for your business, for your client and for 3rd parties such as regulators and therefore is central to your business success. So what is needed is a software solution that ensures for both professionals and back office staff that Information and documents are correctly available when required, and the time spent on the actual content of the document as it relates to the stakeholder is where your focus is, and that any handling or storage is automated in a secure manner.

The challenge is often the same in a practice which uses software as well as those who are still largely paper based. Analysis suggests the problems are fundamentally the same.

·         One back office person handles all processing and filing, and is the focal point for requests for information and documentation, that person can be a bottleneck in the process, always has to do the storage and retrieval and may have a system not understood by the rest of the professionals in the practice.

·         Two or more back office staff handle the processing and both though competent do things slightly differently.

·         It’s a “free for all” and everyone in the practice has access for storage and retrieval and things go missing, get misfiled and sometimes lost.
We all understand the challenge when a business is paper intensive and regulated. What is surprising for some is that having moved part or all of their process to the digital world that the expected benefits for doing this are not realised.

There are three digital scenarios that are most common within the financial specialist community, and only one of these scenarios can be considered effective in delivering real business benefits and bottom line results. Let us consider each scenario:-

1.       Electronic Filing on our Server/PC’s: This is probably the most common scenario where some or all of the team create, update, scan and store documents using the operating systems file management tools, such as Microsoft Windows or MAC OS. Though there can be some benefit in flexibility to change and update documents, all of the above issues that were experienced in the paper world, just transfer to the digital world. Even if we just focus on back office person managing the records, they have to create the files and folders, come up with naming conventions, take decisions daily what folder and file to store a document in and the Filing system may not be readily accessible to everyone, or worse still everyone does their own thing.

2.       Document & File/Record Management Systems: There are many systems available from the sophisticated, expensive enterprise systems to low cost or even free open source document management systems. These are not inherently bad systems and when set up and operated correctly they provide great quality and productivity gains. However because they are generic in that they have application in many types of businesses they have to be configured, have work flows set up, choices have to be made on types and handling of different document types. Search features will tend to be mainly key word so there is still a fair amount of wading through search results to find the right document.

3.       Document & File Management for Specialists:- We believe based on our experience that the best results and biggest payback, for financial specialists who want to move to, or derive the full benefits of the digital world and go totally paperless, is to use a system such as Brokerprove which is designed specifically for advisors, agents & brokers. It has a completely pre-configured file structure and document types that are unique to your business. It handles the structure and naming of files electronically and as a result, it’s harder to make mistakes, because the filing process and system is very well defined, there is only one process and one filing system that everyone uses. Searching for documents is more refined and faster and can be completed by any of the team once they have an internet connection. Nothing can get lost even if there is an unplanned system outage as a copy of every file and folder is securely stored in the cloud.

In conclusion:- If we had a totally paper based business with all the legacy issues and costs that exist and we were to fix this system, what would we have to do.

·         Define in great detail the process for receiving, handling and storing any type of document we need in the business.

·         Document the process and system and then train and retrain every staff member.

·         Have strict , enforced rules for checking in and out documents

·         Always anticipate the specific documents needed during the day so that you have them with you when you need them and have a process to let everyone know what documents you have.

·         Monitor and audit the process very regularly to ensure compliance, keep a record of non-compliances and corrective actions.

However what we are suggesting that when you move to the Digital world that all the above items are addressed automatically, pragmatically and in a way that is user friendly, this is why we recommend using a document and file management system that was designed specifically for your financial advisory business. The system provides the guides, standards, process and rules for how digital documents are managed, so it’s just becomes the way everyone does things giving more consistence, higher productivity, better stakeholder services and enhanced compliance.

Procurement check-list for a Document & Record Management System:

·         A file structure specific to a financial specialists business

·         An automatic file naming system that is easy to understand and manually or automatically search.

·         A utility to quickly determine your record compliance status

·         An un-disputable set of (e) evidence that can be independently verified by any stakeholder on or off line as to the provenance, security and integrity of any document.

·         A level of digital security that ensures only authorised personnel can access and review specific documents.

·         Simple secure access for any authorised individual via the internet anywhere, any time

·         Confidence that there is always a secure, up-to-date back up copy of all files available.

Only Brokerprove meets all these criteria by design.

For further information








Monday 16 April 2012

Due diligence: Minimise integration risk.

Due Diligence & Integration
Due Diligence is the process of investigation prior to signing a contract. The contract is normally a Sale/Purchase agreement for a significant item. We most often hear the term relating to business activity, for example Merger & Acquisition (M & A) activity, restructuring, or a major contract with a new supplier. This paper is concerned with those activities that will require significant organisation change, such as the integration or alignment of two businesses following an acquisition or merger contract of agreement. There is much written on due diligence and many well understood processes, but one area that requires further tools and process is the Organisation Development (OD) area of integration, which is often  where the expected gains or Return On Investment (ROI) following a contract are won or lost.
The research conclusions are as follows:-
1.      More effective and detailed assessment of both organisations is required to determine the integration capability and capacity of each part , the differences between the capability and capacity of both and confirm integration is actually feasible within the defined constraints (time, cost, quality) – (Due diligence on integration capability, to confirm if it’s possible and what it will cost)
2.      OD interventions may be required individually, with the units to be integrated before they start to integrate either, to close the gap between them in capability levels or to bring one or more parts to a level to which they have the capability to effectively integrate. – (Prior to integration specific OD work may be required with individual units/teams)
3.      Once integration has started and, during integration continuous periodic assessment of the functioning levels of the integrated units is required, in order that they can continue to be facilitated with the correct interventions. Thus bringing the organisation as a whole to the highest level of performance as quickly as possible. (Periodic survey of integrated units and tailored OD actions for each)
4.      Both for due diligence and on-going assessment of organisation unit maturity/functioning current standard descriptive tools do not provide adequate measurement of the human systems and cultural/behavioural dimensions and a normative measuring process is required. (A normative scientific assessment must complement standard descriptive evaluations)
Why is integration important?
When we consider the goals of a (re)structuring activity (Financial, Operational, Market, Technology etc.), these goals and the outcomes expected will be delivered though the changed organisation, whatever the planned structure is. What we are considering is that we are bringing together people and groups to form new teams to deliver on the goals. Not only will the team(s) be new but it’s quite likely the policies, procedures, processes, management and leadership will also change to reflect the new entity and the goals to be achieved. So many if all the systems that the new entity operate will change and this change will be designed, implemented and achieved through the human systems , which will also be changing in the process. The bottom line is that integration is a critical success factor in all M & A and/or OD activity where re-structuring is required.
(The quality of the integration, will directly impact the achievement of the business goals)

What are the critical success factors (CSF’s) for successful integration?
There are several CSF’s that are important, and there is much written about many of these, however the area we are concentrating on is the human systems, the organisation maturities and learning levels as key areas that up to now have not been adequately covered and deployed in the change process, thus leading to loss of momentum and ROI because the integration process failed to consider one or more of these. The CSF’s are:-
·         The target structure and change/integration plan are a core element of the overall business strategy.
·         There is an effective diagnosis of the human systems and organisation maturity in those units who will be involved in the change.
·         There is clear criteria for go, no-go relating to due diligence of these organisation functioning elements. (Ability or capability to integrate of one or more parts may be at a level that the cost benefit may not be justified).
·         There are tools to help align the people and units coming together to optimise the integration and attain the best business outcomes.
·         There are clear criteria to confirm the ability and capability of each part to integrate, and interventions are deployed to bring both sides to a level where they can integrate successfully rather than joining in a dysfunctional manner prior to readiness.
·         There is a clear set of relevant CM/OD interventions calibrated for each new group to enhance and accelerate the new entities level of functioning.
·         There is a method to periodically diagnose progress and adapt the integration plans.
Full Life-cycle Integration process (An integrate aspect to any OD, CM or M & A process)
A full life-cycle integration process has 4 key components
1.      Standard descriptive assessments, document/process/performance reviews, comparisons and gap analysis (or benchmarked to a known accepted standard (ISO, FDA, FRS etc.))
2.      Standard Individual and Team engagement and assessment (interviews, workshops, forums etc.)
3.      Scientific based normative diagnostic survey, with reports and dashboards. (Before, During and on-going periodically as a minimum every 6 months)
4.      Individual and Team/unit based interventions appropriate to their specific circumstances before , during and on an on-going basis
Summary conclusions
The ability to integrate two or more organisations or two or more units of an organisation is not a given, so understanding the capability and capacity of each should be determined in advance of any project , including a cost benefit analysis . It can be discovered through proper diagnosis that the cost an effort to achieve integration may outweigh the benefits. However more likely with a scientific analysis, it will surface out the human system, cultural and behavioural maturity of each and allow for the correct level of intervention with individual units before and during the integration phase. The diagnostic dashboard provides integration management and senior management with a benchmark of where the overall organisation is developing towards a leadership position.
The Holignment Maturity Index and on-line diagnostic surveys are the most comprehensive available scientific based tools available to assist with Organisation Change and Integration.