The present invention relates to data sharing, and more particularly a novel platform across which users may manage, securely access and share information, data files and workflow as a function of the possible roles that such users may assume with respect to the underlying assets and entities to which the data relates.
With the increasing complexity of the financial markets and associated regulations, there is an ever increasing need for efficient management and sharing of information. As there is an increased ability to more efficiently manage and share information, there is likely to be a corresponding increase in the ability for a company/industry to operate in a more value maximizing manner. For example, efficient management and seamless sharing of information can increase operational capacity, reduce costs, increase organizational velocities, provide added transparency when needed or desired, and facilitate the regulatory compliance process.
However, there is currently a lack of a platform which is capable of addressing such information sharing and access needs in a cross-company and even cross-industry standardized manner. Currently, individuals, companies and industries that communicate and transact together are essentially all working on independent platforms, thereby impeding the efficiency and transparency of their respective interactions. Electronic systems and tools are designed to work within an organization (or even portion of an organization), and do not allow for the seamless sharing of information outside of the organization or industry in a secure and efficient manner.
Another issue facing industries, such as the real estate, insurance, finance, etc., is an inability to assess one's risk due to imperfect information. This is mostly due to the fact that different companies within the same industry often employ silo technologies which are incapable of providing a means to securely and seamlessly share information with other companies having a need or desire for the information. Since the risk associated with an asset can span literally dozens, hundreds or thousands of organizations all interlinked by their risk exposure to the particular asset, there is a pronounced unsatisfied need in the art for a standardized data sharing platform through which entities may transact with one another and directly share the data and documents associated with such transactions.
Disclosed and claimed herein is a platform and method for standardized sharing of data. This platform includes a network, a database and a server which is configured to define a plurality of data objects for both entities and non-entities, wherein each of the data objects for entities comprises information that corresponds to specific entity types, while each of the data objects for non-entities comprises information that corresponds to specific tangible items. The server is further configured to populate an asset object, from among the plurality of data objects, with information corresponding to an underlying asset which has been provided by a user of the platform, wherein the user corresponds to a preferred owner of the asset object by virtue of having responsibility to maintain information relating to the underlying asset.
The server is further to define relationships between the asset object, the user and one or more of the other plurality of data objects, including at least one entity object, wherein said relationships are defined as a function of one or more commercial arrangements between the user and one or more other entities, wherein the at least one entity object corresponds to the one or more other entities. Finally, the server is configured to allow one or more other entities the right to access said asset object over the network and in accordance with said defined relationships and with permissions defined by said user.
Other aspects, features, and techniques of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art in view of the following detailed description of the invention.
The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein:
Overview of the Disclosure
The following disclosure relates to a novel, standardized platform, which may be implemented in a secure web-based environment, across which institutions and individuals may access and share information, and which may further transact between organizations and industries. One aspect of the invention is to provide a plurality of standard objects with specified relationships and permissions that are applied between specified users and such objects. Such objects are managed, accessed and modified using a universal web-based platform that facilitates the secure sharing of data and documents, web-based communication, financial transactions and workflows across a wide range of user types. Such objects can be defined as entity objects, e.g., borrower, insurer, guarantor, bank, investor, asset manager, etc. Additionally, the defined objects may include non-entity objects, such as assets, loans, insurance policies, etc.
All objects are information sets, and may be defined to have certain fundamental characteristics, including for example one or more of the following:
All objects (and hence the information in them) relate to something in the real world, such as an underlying asset, a loan, a bank, an appraisal, etc. Each object has a preferred “owner” and numerous non-preferred owner. For example, in the case of an “asset holder,” this owner may have the ability to create a loan object, an insurance policy object, etc. Such objects may be administered by a preferred owner, although such owner may grant object access rights and/or additional ownership rights to any number of other non-preferred owners.
In some situations, identical objects (e.g., an asset) may be owned by separate users (e.g., asset holder, insurance company). In such cases, the platform may be configured to identify such duplicates and combine the objects so that they can be properly accessed and shared.
Users of the novel platform are considered members of the specific online community in which they are transacting business together. Data within the platform is owned by such member organizations and individuals. Access and consent mechanisms for member organizations and member individuals to share with other members of the platform is preferably controlled by the owners of the underlying information. Members that are granted permissions to objects from other members will have the ability to exercise those permissions within the same platform. Members can aggregate information across multiple member organizations that they have permissions. For example, a regulatory body can be granted permissions from multiple institutions and report on and analyze information across multiple institutions.
Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide permission logic which flexibly controls the explicit and implicit access and consent mechanisms for the universal platform. All data fields, document types, and objects in the platform are individually permissionable. This allows creation of an infinite number of permissions, thus allowing the owner of information to share only that information that they desire with another member.
It should further be appreciated that members with adequate permissions may also have the authority to combine similar object types (e.g., loans, assets, etc.) into “object groups” for convenience in setting permissions, while members themselves can be grouped into “member groups.”
Permissions are granted by linking specific members to specific objects groups according to a permissioning set. Permissioning sets may be categorized and named based on defined roles. For example, various permissioning sets for an asset manager can be created and labeled “Asset Manager 1, Asset Manager 2, or Asset Manager 3”.
Unlike traditional web-based platforms where administrators have the ability to grant only user access permissions, the novel platform disclosed herein is based, at least in part, on the concept of ownership of information. In short, an authorized member can grant to another member ownership rights over shared information. As appropriate to a business relationship or transaction, multiple parties can co-own the same information. Moreover, once ownership rights to information have been granted, such rights cannot be revoked, just as ownership of real property cannot be revoked once transferred.
Another aspect of the disclosure is that object types will be defined with a preferred owner. For example, an asset holder can own a loan object, while a lender can also own a loan object. However, in this case the lender would be the preferred owner of the loan object because the lender is the entity which is obligated or in the best position to maintain the object's information, e.g., loan balance.
In certain embodiments, the platform may be configured to alert members that each appear to own a duplicate of the same object and give them the opportunity to merge this object with co-ownership and a declaration of a preferred owner.
In accordance with the principles of the invention, ownership of objects may vary over time, and is described in more detail below.
Still another aspect of the present disclosure relates to ensuring data integrity and accuracy. To that end, only authenticated members may take any actions in relation to the data and documents in the platform, and no information is permitted to be anonymous.
It should further be appreciated that the platform may be a ‘context’ platform in the sense that objects may be created with a standard object syntax. This standard syntax may allow members to create new object types that are capable of relating with other existing objects on the platform. The creation of such new objects may include data fields, document and image types, known relationship structures to other objects, permission sets, workflows, etc. In the case of new object workflows, the standard syntax may allow members to create new workflows that are capable of relating with objects and members within the platform. Standard editing and creation tools for new objects, permissions, workflows, etc. may similarly be provided to developers. Members that create new objects and/or workflows for the platform may own and even market them to other members on the platform.
Still another aspect of the disclosure is to provide a communications platform through which members may securely communicate with other members. Communications such as email, instant message, voice and video conference may be recorded within the platform, and even related to the objects, workflows and members, as may be specified by the authorized members.
The platform disclosed and claimed herein may further comprise a services marketplace through which members may provide services to other members in the platform. For example, if a member needs a valuation performed on a piece of collateral, the member can request the services of other members that can provide the valuation information through the platform.
To facilitate the provision of the service, the member servicer may be given limited and temporary object permissions by the requesting member service. Payment for any services rendered may also be processed through the platform.
In addition to facilitate the marketing of newly-created objects and member services, the novel platform may further be configured to facilitate the purchase of third party data and to associate such data to particular objects within the platform. Similarly, members can post their owned objects for sale on one or more marketplaces existing on the platform. For example, real estate, loans, securities, etc. can be purchased. Sale of objects between member includes a transfer of ownership of objects between members.
Another aspect of the platform relates to the concept of workflows. In particular, an information owner may start a workflow which, when initiated, grants ownership to a third party which is sufficient to perform a requested task, e.g., perform an appraisal, audit, etc. Once the third party has completed the requested task, they may retain ownership to view only the information/product relating to the task performed by the third party, but not to view any future information relating to the object in question.
Additionally, a transition between workflow states can create new objects, create temporary permissions, create permanent ownership of permissions, and transfer ownership between participants. Workflow transitions may have pathways designated as alternatives in order to prevent “roadblock” conditions that render many workflows ineffective. Transitions can be executed by a properly permissioned secondary party, such as a supervisor or secretary. Although the workflow may proceed, the record of these transitions may be specially marked. This marker could be used for reporting, second pass review, replay when the transition designee resumes their capacity, or other purposes.
Finally, the platform may be configured to enable members to report on objects that they have permission to own or access. Such reporting may occur across multiple organizations, industries and demographics between members.
The principles set forth herein should be interpreted as relating generally to any industry or company that shares information and transacts within/across such industry and/or company. Specifically, the platform disclosed herein enables business professionals in all lending, real estate investment, financial services, insurance, real estate brokerages, regulatory industries, brokerages, consulting and any other asset-based business, whether tangible or non-tangible, to communicate, share information and transact financially in a single, secure platform.
As used herein, the terms “a” or “an” shall mean one or more than one. The term “plurality” shall mean two or more than two. The term “another” is defined as a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having” are open ended (e.g., comprising). The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Therefore, A, B or C means any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C. An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutually exclusive. Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certain embodiments”, “an embodiment” or similar term means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of such phrases in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner on one or more embodiments without limitation.
In accordance with the practices of persons skilled in the art of computer programming, the invention is described below with reference to operations that are performed by a computer system or a like electronic system. Such operations are sometimes referred to as being computer-executed. It will be appreciated that operations that are symbolically represented include the manipulation by a processor, such as a central processing unit, of electrical signals representing data bits and the maintenance of data bits at memory locations, such as in system memory, as well as other processing of signals. The memory locations where data bits are maintained are physical locations that have particular electrical, magnetic, optical, or organic properties corresponding to the data bits.
When implemented in software, the elements of the invention are essentially the code segments to perform the necessary tasks. The code segments can be stored in a processor readable storage medium, which may include any medium that can store information. Examples of the processor readable mediums include an electronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory or other non-volatile memory, a floppy diskette, a CD-ROM, an optical disk, a hard disk, etc.
Exemplary Network Overview
As depicted in
The standardized data sharing platform 100 of
References below to any actions taken by users or members of the platform should be interpreted to correspond to individuals, such as at any of the various work stations of any member organization 105 or individual work stations 125, accessing the platform server 110 and platform database 115 via the network 120. Additionally, all information provided by such users/members, all changes or other interactions by such users/members, are performed via client-side application which is configured to interact with the platform server 110 and the information in the platform database 115.
Referring now to
Unlike a social network, however, sharing information in a transaction-based network involves significant risk and consequences. Therefore, one aspect of the invention is to define a set of rules which govern the novel information sharing platform disclosed and claimed herein. First, in a transaction-based network information cannot simply be shared uniformly. Rather, information must be shared with only those entities which have a right or reason to need access. Therefore, a universal and infinitely flexible permissioning system must be applied across the platform so that all of the appropriate entities have the information they are entitled, but without violating any privacy rights or security.
Second, unlike in a social network, in a transaction-based network one cannot simply “unfriend” another entity that they are doing business with. Thus, as will be described in more detail below, another aspect of the invention is to impose the concept of ownership on the information which is shared across the platform. In a transaction-based network, money is not the only thing which is transferred between parties. Rather, ownership of the information that was used to underwrite a particular transaction is also transferred.
Finally, the present invention recognizes the concept of data provenance in that information cannot be trusted if it is provided or revised anonymously.
Referring now to
As also noted previously, data access and sharing may be carried out as a function of the role that a particular user assumes with respect to an underlying asset, for example. To that end, the following is again a partial list of the potential roles that the owners of objects may assume:
It is a further aspect of the invention for the owner of an object to be able to define a particular level of permission for each object field, file and/or contact. The various possible levels of permission or security categories may include the following:
Referring now to
With reference to the object diagram 300 of
Referring now to
Continuing to refer to
With reference to the object diagram 400 of
In the particular example of
Continuing to refer to
At time 520, Asset Holder #2 purchases the asset from Asset Holder #1. At that point, Lender #1 is paid off and the policy from Insurance company #1 is canceled. In connection with that transaction, Asset Holder #2 will take out a loan for the asset from Lender #2 and will also take out its own policy from Insurance company #2. From that point, Asset Holder #2 owns the asset object (since he/she now owns the underlying asset) and is free to grant access rights to others, which in this case includes Lender #2 and Insurance company #2. This will continue until the Asset Holder #2 transfers the asset or gives away its ownership of the asset object. Also, each of Asset Holder #2, Lender #2 and Insurance company #2 are given access to the asset object, as it existed from time 515 when it went back on the market.
Another aspect of the disclosed platform is to maintain data integrity by, not only defining the ownership of the data as a function of time, but also to ensure that no data is anonymous. In particular, all information contained in the data objects is associated with the member who provide the information, and all edits to the data objects are similarly associated with the corresponding editing member(s).
Referring now to
To avoid effort and information duplication and improve efficiency, another aspect of the novel platform disclosed and claimed herein is to recognize when such duplicative objects have been created, and to automatically introduce (Phase 2) the owners of the affected objects (i.e., asset 605 and loan 630) such that the parties can agree to join and assign permissions to the various ancillary objects. To that end, Phase 3 of
With respect to process of reconciling information, it may be preferable for the preferred owner to perform such reconciliation. This may be done by providing the preferred owner with administrative and editing authority. To determine who the preferred owner is for a particular object, the difference between users of information and creators or owners of information should be recognized. That is, those entities which create and are responsible for maintaining certain information will likely be considered the preferred owner.
It should be appreciated that all of the above-described object information and relationships will be experienced by members of the novel data sharing platform in the form of computer-generated GUIs which are generated by the platform's servers and viewed by users on a workstation that is running, for example, a browser-type application, or may alternative be accessible using a dedicated client-side application. To that end,
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Finally,
A platform configured in accordance with the principles of the invention may further facilitate communication between users/owners regarding a particular object. These communications may be performed within the platform and archived within the platform. The security and permission levels associated with communication information may be handled according to the same methodology as other data and files.
Still another aspect of the invention may be to facilitate the transacting of money between users/owners within the platform, as it relates to the real world (i.e., sale of an asset, a loan, an appraisal, etc.). Members of the platform may use the platform itself to enter into financial agreements, agree to payment terms and execute payment through any known electronic means.
The platform may also allow users/owners to create and assign action items to other team members. These action items may then be tracked, reported and viewed based on role and/or permission levels, for example.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention not be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/444,577, filed Feb. 18, 2011.
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