IBM develops blockchain platform to help BTMU manage contracts

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) plans to conduct contract management on a blockchain platform.

IBM said that the project is provided with technical support and service design by its Hyperledger, which mainly manages the service agreements signed between BTMU and other third parties.

Ramesh Gopinath, vice president of IBM’s blockchain solutions and research division, told CoinDesk that the initial platform of the project has been built to track the internal workflow of BTMU in detail, and the subsequent platform is still under construction, which will eventually connect the workflows between the various companies involved in the agreement.

Gopinath explained how the process works:

Throughout the process, you can track workflow to manage agreements and specific tasks for certain employees. Once you capture the relevant data, there will be fewer disputes in this new operating model.

Gopinath said they have been tracking BTMU’s document workflow through their platform for more than two months. He said the data displayed on the blockchain will help BTMU make work assessments more quickly.

Traditional agreement management processes are usually manual, but this method of creating documents on the blockchain can achieve automated management of project evaluation.

Gopinath said:

If the project is successful you get paid, if it is not there is a penalty.

Next step

IBM and BTMU will conduct trials with each other during the initial phase of the platform development. BTMU plans to launch the new contract management platform after the end of fiscal year 2017.

IBM said the project represents the culmination of its continued investment and research in blockchain since joining the Hyperledger project in 2015.

BTMU commented on the project, saying that blockchain technology has proven to improve the efficiency of business operations. Motoi Mitsuishi, acting CEO of BTMU Asia and Oceania, said:

Today, we are embarking on a journey with IBM to explore the potential of blockchain technology.