PLDT Enterprise has inked a memorandum of understanding with Ohelio, Inc., to co-innovate and productize a blockchain-powered document and digital signature platform, further strengthening the group’s suite of information and communications technology offerings.
Ohelio is a blockchain technology startup based in Manila that aims to digitally transform paper-based workflows and reduce document fraud with blockchain smart contracts.
Ohelio’s Twala Sign, a next-generation platform powered by blockchain smart contracts, powers the future of today’s hybrid working environment by optimizing key business processes, and helping companies reduce contract signing time, cost, and instances of fraud.
Twala is an app that allows users to easily sign legally binding documents through a laptop or smartphone and can also be used to issue tamper-proof digital credentials.
Melvin Jeffrey Chan, PLDT VP & Head of Enterprise Innovations & IoT Business Development, said that Twala will be advanced under ePLDT, the ICT arm of PLDT Enterprise, and will be added to its slew of products as an emerging technology solution.
“Through our partnership with Ohelio Inc., we bid to offer a product solution that can digitally facilitate the signing process of companies, leveraging the immutability nature of blockchain technology, to easily manage and execute company undertakings with confidence,” Chan said.
Jeffrey Reyes, co-founder and CEO of Ohelio Inc., said the company’s blockchain network was designed to enable digital trust, security, and compliance for several ecosystems. It features Twala ID, a self-sovereign identity on the blockchain; and Twala Sign which is used for connected, smart, and self-executing code-based document signing.
The said technology will enable different sectors such as the government which they can use for valid IDs and license applications, the health care sector for the processing of health records, and medical insurance; and the banking sector for acquiring different financial services, among others.
Meanwhile, PLDT Enterprise continues to team up with organizations aimed at supporting Filipino startups, such as QBO Innovation Hub and Ideaspace, to discover and co-innovate viable startup business ideas, products, and innovations such as Twala. Twala is part of the latest cohort of the Ideaspace Accelerator Program, a year-long program for early-stage startup founders.
“Our Innovation Lab and Ecosystem Partnership (Innolab) has been rigorously scouting and co-developing innovative solutions with startups. Through our collaboration with QBO and Ideaspace, we were able to generate a portfolio of beacon projects and viable startup innovations that complements the existing solutions of PLDT Enterprise,” said Kristine Dara Ever Juan, Head of PLDT Innolab.
“As industries evolve radically over the past year, we thrust to address the unique challenges faced by business today through bleeding-edge innovative solutions, especially now that more companies are operating in a hybrid or fully remote set-up. This initiative will enable us to expand our suite of enterprise solutions to deliver the current requirements of enterprises and tap more potential customers,” John Granada, PLDT Enterprise Head of Managed IT, Emerging Technology and Business Applications Innovation.