In brief
- KT, South Korea’s largest telecom, has launched KT Paperless, a blockchain platform for contracts.
- KT Paperless users can verify when a contract is opened, signed, and viewed.
- Up to 5,000 contracts can be created on KT Paperless each day.
South Korea’s largest telecommunications conglomerate, KT, is launching a blockchain platform for contracts called KT Paperless.
The platform enables users to create, distribute and store electronic contracts. Once contracts have been uploaded onto the KT Paperless blockchain, users can verify and track whether they've been altered or tainted.
KT Paperless targets hospitals, academies and gyms
KT Paperless is targeting institutions that have many contractual interactions with consumers, including hospitals, academies, gyms. Due to the limited scaling capacity of its blockchain, up to 5,000 contracts can be created per day on the platform.
The concept of unalterable contracts on the Paperless platform is similar to registered mails, in that users can check when a contract is opened, signed, and viewed. The timestamp technology, which is employed by virtually every major enterprise-grade blockchain network, allows precise tracking of user activity.
In the near future, KT will also enable users to upload paper contracts to the KT Paperless blockchain network, using it as a storage platform.
KT Paperless users will be directly assisted with customer support from KT’s Internet Data Center (IDC), and the corporation intends to roll out more products on the blockchain platform over the upcoming months.
“KT Paperless will reduce the labor and costs involved in dealing with contract storage for both corporations and individuals,” Yoon Dong-sik, business manager at KT Cloud/DX, said.
South Korean corporations are stepping up blockchain initiatives
Efforts to implement blockchain technology by South Korea’s top financial institutions and conglomerates align with the central government’s vision to be at the forefront of commercializing blockchain technology.
In January 2020, Samsung SDS, Samsung’s information technology subsidiary, created a blockchain service on top of the firm’s native enterprise blockchain for insurance payments and contracts.
The release of KT Paperless comes shortly after KB Kookmin Bank’s entrance into the cryptocurrency custody market, as South Korea increasingly embraces cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
It also follows KT’s collaboration with the government of Busan to create a local digital currency for supermarkets, department stores, and small retailers.