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The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered business operations. In today’s environment, organizations must prioritize the safety of their employees, ensuring that returning to the office does not pose health risks to individuals or the broader community.
In this context, safeguarding personal health data is paramount. The Health and Wellness Repository, designed as a blockchain-based web application, was developed by the Blockchain Lab at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India, in partnership with PwC Japan. This innovative tool securely stores health information, allowing employees to share their health status with organizations efficiently. This capability is crucial for enterprises managing the complexities of in-person workplace interactions post-pandemic.
As an AWS Premier Tier Services Partner and Managed Service Provider (MSP), PwC stands out as a global leader in professional services. They combine human ingenuity, industry experience, and technological innovation to foster trust and achieve sustainable outcomes. PwC’s mission is to build trust in society and address significant challenges. They recognize that the cloud is a key driver of digital transformation, enabling organizations to leverage software applications, data services, and innovative development environments more effectively.
This blog post delves into the Health and Wellness Repository solution, the organizational challenges it addresses, and how PwC built this system using AWS.
About PwC’s Blockchain Laboratory
PwC India’s Blockchain Laboratory is dedicated to empowering organizations to transform their operations and enhance their societal impact through blockchain technology. The lab has a proven track record of collaboration with industry leaders and has developed numerous cross-industry solutions tailored to various clients. The team consists of blockchain-certified professionals with extensive experience across multiple sectors.
Solution Overview and Target Groups
The primary goal of the solution is to verify health credentials for personnel (employees, customers, and staff) within workplace environments without requiring the individual to disclose their personal health data. The system employs a health scoring mechanism based on real-time integrated data, which can be customized according to organizational needs. Utilizing the concept of zero-knowledge proof, individuals can validate their health information without sharing any personal data with the verifier. This approach enables individuals to retain control over their health data while sharing it in a secure, verifiable, trusted manner.
The solution is applicable across various sectors, including transportation, tourism, healthcare, and education.
Challenges
The pandemic shifted many organizations to virtual operations, impacting decision-making efficacy and collaboration. Employees have faced difficulties in adapting to remote work environments, leading to a disconnect from organizational culture. As employees gradually return to offices, the potential for virus transmission remains a concern without proper preventive measures.
Moreover, individuals may be reluctant to share their private health data without a trustworthy, transparent system in place to ensure data protection. Organizations have often relied on static health information from individuals, which can be inadequate in a dynamic environment. Another emerging trend is the increasing integration of health and wellness programs into employee engagement strategies, which is expected to continue gaining traction.
Functionality and Uniqueness
The blockchain-based Health and Wellness Repository seamlessly integrates with wearable IoT-enabled health devices to dynamically generate users’ health scores. Access to various areas within a workplace is granted based on these scores, which consider factors such as PCR test results and vaccination status. Users receive a QR code that can be scanned to verify their real-time health status, along with information on which areas they can access and which are restricted.
This system leverages the zero-knowledge proof concept, allowing verification without revealing the individual’s identity. Organizations can customize the criteria for score calculation, and a management dashboard provides real-time health status monitoring.
Compared to similar solutions, the Health and Wellness Repository offers comprehensive health information, not limited to COVID-19 data. It also tracks users’ daily medical data to keep their health profiles updated, facilitating swift medical assistance during emergencies.
Technical Overview and Architecture
The Health and Wellness Repository employs various components, including the Amazon Quantum Ledger Database (Amazon QLDB), which securely stores health data in a private blockchain format. Amazon QLDB offers an immutable, transparent, and cryptographically verifiable transaction log, streamlining the development of ledger-like applications without extensive effort.
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