Advanced Blockchain-Enabled Electronic Document Management System with Integrated Verification Module: A Review

Abstract

The development in the use of digital technologies has greatly revolutionised the way in which the documents are handled in the organisations bringing the necessity of secure and effective electronic document management systems (EDMS). Analysing the traditional approach to EDMS we can state that it is effective but it commonly has a number of issues starting from document verification, data integrity, and security. Its distributed, worldwide and immutable character of the blockchain technology can possibly help to handle these challenges. In this review, integration of the blockchain technology into the EDMS is presented with emphasis on systems with integrated verification modules. We start from explaining the key principles behind EDMS and the blockchain technology respectively noting their strong and weak points. The benefits of blockchain-powered EDMS are identified and discussed, pointing out such aspects of the decentralised architecture as enhanced security, an impossibility to modify the data unlawfully, and the trustworthiness of the data. Also, the role taken by the modules of integrated verification in authentication of documents is studied in detail and how they help maintain trust and compliance within many industries. The review goes in deep into the technical architecture of blockchain-enabled EDMS i.e. how the blockchain layers and verification modules interplay to provide secure and robust document solution. We cover the huge benefits of the Enigma project in terms of security, privacy, and the issues related to scalability, compliance to regulations, and acceptance by users. Case studies and use cases are given to demonstrate the useful benefits and practical strategies on the use of blockchain-enabled EDMS in various sectors, i.e., healthcare, finance, legal services, etc. A comparative evaluation is made on blockchain-facilitated EDMS in comparison with the conventional systems and other advanced technologies such as AI and cloud computing among others. This analysis makes it possible to gain a complete picture of the specific opportunities and the possible setbacks of implementing the blockchain in the management of documents. Thirdly, we give the future direction and research that enables us to identify the need for further improvement in blockchain-based EDMS. Conclusively, the use of blockchain technology is an alternative to the traditional overhaul of electronic document management systems, which helps in surpassing the limitation in the system. This review seeks to give comprehensive insights into potentials and implications of blockchain enabled EDMS with integrated verification modules and a useful reference source to researchers, the practitioners and policymakers who intend to improve document management and verification processes.