Document aggregation processing system, document aggregation processing method, and program

Abstract

This invention provides a document aggregation system, a document aggregation method, and a program that enable efficient management of digitized documents. [Solution] A document aggregation processing system comprising: an acquisition request reception unit that receives requests from users to acquire digitized documents and acquires document acquisition information indicating the information necessary to acquire the documents; an authorization acquisition unit that, based on the document acquisition information, obtains permission for acquisition of the documents from at least one of the document providers that is the target of acquisition; a document acquisition unit that acquires the documents from the provider when permission for acquisition of the documents is granted by the provider; and a document management unit that stores the documents acquired from each of the at least one provider for each user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a document aggregation processing system, a document aggregation processing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, due to the trend towards paperless and cloud services, the digitization of documents such as insurance certificates, usage details, and transaction balance reports, which were previously distributed on paper, has been progressing. Along with this, online storage is being used for the management of digitized documents.

[0003] For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses a technology related to online storage that stores files in a storage server installed on a network and enables access to the files stored in the storage server from a plurality of client terminals connected via the network.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, services for providing digitized documents are in a state of chaos, and document management for users has become complicated. For example, when a user has multiple services in use, the user needs to access each service to obtain documents and upload them to the online storage they are using, resulting in poor efficiency in document management.

[0006] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a document aggregation processing system, a document aggregation processing method, and a program capable of efficiently managing digitized documents. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned problems, a document aggregation processing system according to one aspect of the present invention is a document aggregation processing system comprising: an acquisition request reception unit that receives a request from a user to acquire an electronic document and acquires document acquisition information indicating the information necessary to acquire the document; an authorization acquisition unit that, based on the document acquisition information, obtains authorization for the acquisition of the document from the provider of the document to be acquired, which is one or more of the provider of the document to be acquired; a document acquisition unit that acquires the document from the provider when authorization for the acquisition of the document has been granted by the provider; and a document management unit that stores the documents acquired from each of the at least one provider for each user.

[0008] A document aggregation processing method according to one aspect of the present invention is a document aggregation processing method executed by a computer, which includes: an acquisition request acceptance process that receives a request from a user to acquire an electronic document and acquires document acquisition information indicating the information necessary to acquire the document; an authorization acquisition process that, based on the document acquisition information, obtains authorization for acquiring the document from at least one of the document providers that is the target of acquisition; a document acquisition process that, if authorization for acquiring the document is granted by the provider, acquires the document from the provider; and a document management process that stores the document acquired from each of the at least one provider for each user.

[0009] A program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as: an acquisition request receiving means that receives a request from a user to acquire an electronic document and acquires document acquisition information indicating the information necessary to acquire the document; a permission acquisition means that, based on the document acquisition information, obtains permission to acquire the document from at least one of the providers of the document to be acquired; a document acquisition means that acquires the document from the provider when permission to acquire the document has been granted by the provider; and a document management means that stores the documents acquired from each of the at least one provider for each user. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, digitized documents can be managed efficiently. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This diagram shows an overview of the document aggregation service according to this embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the document aggregation system according to this embodiment. [Figure 3] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of the user management device according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of the document aggregation device according to this embodiment. [Figure 5] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of the document storage device according to this embodiment. [Figure 6] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of the provider device according to this embodiment. [Figure 7] This sequence diagram shows an example of the processing flow in the document aggregation system according to this embodiment. [Figure 8] This block diagram shows an example of the functional configuration of a document aggregation device according to a modified example of this embodiment. [Figure 9] This is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a document storage device according to a modified example of this embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] <1. Overview of Document Aggregation Service> Referring to FIG. 1, the overview of the document aggregation service according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overview of the document aggregation service according to the present embodiment.

[0014] The document aggregation service SA shown in FIG. 1 is a service that acquires and stores documents on behalf of users from providers of electronic documents (hereinafter also simply referred to as "documents"). The document aggregation service SA stores the documents acquired from the provider in a manner that can be shared with users on the Internet. That is, the document aggregation service SA is also a type of cloud service that provides services using online storage.

[0015] Providers of documents are, for example, financial institutions, local governments, insurance companies, etc., but are not limited to such examples as long as they are businesses or administrative agencies that provide documents. The documents provided are, for example, transaction details, transaction balance reports, administrative-related documents, insurance securities, etc., which are documents corresponding to the provider. Administrative-related documents are, for example, various application-related documents, various certificates (such as family registers), etc.

[0016] The flow of using the document aggregation service SA will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, first, the user requests the document aggregation service SA to acquire a document. At this time, the user provides information necessary for document acquisition (hereinafter also referred to as "document acquisition information") to the document aggregation service SA.

[0017] The information for document acquisition is information including, for example, personal identification information, information to be acquired, permission information, etc. The personal identification information is information by which personal identification can be confirmed, for example, data such as personal identification documents, or data indicating that personal identification has been completed. The information to be acquired is information regarding the document to be acquired, for example, information for specifying the document to be acquired (such as the document name), information for specifying the provider of the document to be acquired (such as the name of the provider). The permission information is information indicating that the user has permitted the provider to acquire the user's document on the user's behalf. That is, the permission information is also information regarding opt-in for information cooperation.

[0018] The document aggregation service performs service cooperation with the provider. In this service cooperation, the document aggregation service SA provides the information for document acquisition provided by the user to the provider and asks the provider to determine whether service cooperation is possible. The provider confirms whether the user himself / herself has permitted the acquisition based on the information for document acquisition provided by the document aggregation service SA and determines whether service cooperation is possible. If it is determined that service cooperation is possible, the provider cooperates with the document aggregation service SA and provides the requested document to the document aggregation service SA.

[0019] The document aggregation service SA stores the documents provided by the provider. The document aggregation service stores documents for each user and, when documents are acquired from a plurality of providers, stores the plurality of documents together. The user can view the documents acquired and stored by the document aggregation service SA via a Web browser or the like.

[0020] When users retrieve and manage documents themselves from at least one provider, they have to access each provider individually to retrieve the documents and upload them to online storage themselves, making management cumbersome. In contrast, as mentioned above, by using the document aggregation service SA, users only need to request document retrieval from the document aggregation service SA, and the documents are automatically retrieved and centrally managed on the internet. Therefore, users can efficiently manage documents using the document aggregation service SA.

[0021] <2. Configuration of the Document Aggregation System> The above describes the overview of the document aggregation service SA according to this embodiment. Next, the configuration of the document aggregation system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 2. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the document aggregation system according to this embodiment.

[0022] The document aggregation system 1 shown in Figure 2 is a system for providing the document aggregation service SA, whose outline was explained with reference to Figure 1. As shown in Figure 2, the document aggregation system 1 comprises a user terminal 10, a document aggregation processing system 20, and a source device 60.

[0023] Network NW1 and Network NW2 can be configured to exchange information using, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a telephone network (mobile phone network, fixed telephone network, etc.), a regional IP (Internet Protocol) network, or the Internet.

[0024] (1) User terminal 10 User terminal 10 is a device used by the user. User terminal 10 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, or a PC (Personal Computer). The user terminal 10 is connected to the document aggregation processing system 20 via the network NW1, enabling it to send and receive various types of information.

[0025] (2) Document aggregation processing system 20 The document aggregation processing system 20 is a system for aggregating and storing documents in the document aggregation system 1, and is a system for performing processes related to personal information management, document aggregation, and document storage. As shown in Figure 2, the document aggregation processing system 20 comprises a user management device 30, a document aggregation device 40, and a document storage device 50.

[0026] (2-1) Personal management device 30 The user management device 30 is a device for performing processing related to user management. The user management device 30 is composed of, for example, one or more PCs or server devices (for example, a cloud server). The user management device 30 is connected to the user terminal 10 via network NW1, enabling it to send and receive various types of information. Furthermore, the user management device 30 is connected to the document aggregation device 40 within the document aggregation processing system 20, enabling it to send and receive various types of information. Additionally, the user management device 30 is connected to the provider device 60 via network NW2, enabling it to send and receive various types of information.

[0027] (2-2) Document aggregation device 40 The document aggregation device 40 is a device for performing processing related to document aggregation. The document aggregation device 40 is composed of, for example, one or more PCs or server devices (for example, a cloud server). The document aggregation device 40 is connected to the user management device 30 and the document storage device 50 within the document aggregation processing system 20, enabling it to send and receive various types of information. Furthermore, the document aggregation device 40 is connected to the provider device 60 via the network NW2, enabling it to send and receive various types of information.

[0028] (2-3) Document storage device 50 The document storage device 50 is a device for performing processing related to document storage. The document storage device 50 is composed of, for example, one or more PCs or server devices (for example, a cloud server). The document storage device 50 is connected to the document aggregation device 40 within the document aggregation processing system 20, enabling it to send and receive various types of information. Furthermore, the document storage device 50 is connected to the user terminal 10 via the network NW1, enabling it to send and receive various types of information.

[0029] (3) Provider device 60 The provider device 60 is a device where documents are managed by the provider. The provider device 60 is composed of, for example, one or more PCs or server devices (for example, a cloud server). As shown in Figure 2, the provider device 60 exists for each provider, such as the financial institution device 60-1, the local government device 60-2, and the insurance company device 60-3. The data provider device 60 is connected to the document aggregation processing system 20 via the network NW2, enabling it to send and receive various types of information.

[0030] <3. Functional Configuration of the User Management Device> The configuration of the document aggregation system 1 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the personal information management device 30 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 3. Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the personal information management device 30 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 3, the user management device 30 comprises a communication unit 310, a storage unit 320, and a control unit 330.

[0031] (1) Communications Section 310 The communication unit 310 has the function of sending and receiving various types of information. The communication unit 310 is connected to the user terminal 10 via the network NW1 and sends and receives various types of information. The communication unit 310 is also connected to the document aggregation device 40 within the document aggregation processing system 20 and sends and receives various types of information. Furthermore, the communication unit 310 is connected to the provider device 60 via the network NW2 and sends and receives various types of information.

[0032] (2) Storage section 320 The storage unit 320 has the function of storing various types of information. The storage unit 320 is composed of storage media provided as hardware by the user management device 30, such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), flash memory, EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access read / write Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), or any combination of these storage media.

[0033] (3) Control unit 330 The control unit 330 has the function of controlling the overall operation of the personal information management device 30. The control unit 330 is implemented, for example, by causing the CPU (Central Processing Unit) or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) provided as hardware in the personal information management device 30 to execute a program. As shown in Figure 3, the control unit 330 includes an acquisition request reception unit 331, a permission acquisition unit 332, and a permission linkage unit 333.

[0034] (3-1) Acquisition Request Reception Department 331 The document acquisition request receiving unit 331 has the function of receiving document acquisition requests from users. The document acquisition request receiving unit 331 receives document acquisition requests from users and acquires document acquisition information provided by the user along with the request. The document acquisition request receiving unit 331 becomes aware that a document acquisition request has been made by a user when the communication unit 310 receives the acquisition request from the user terminal 10.

[0035] (3-2) Permit acquisition department 332 The permission acquisition unit 332 has the function of obtaining permission (hereinafter also referred to as "acquisition permission") from the provider to acquire the document. Based on the document acquisition information obtained by the acquisition request reception unit 331, the permission acquisition unit 332 obtains acquisition permission from at least one of the document providers whose documents are to be acquired.

[0036] Specifically, the permission acquisition unit 332 requests permission from the provider indicated by the information to be acquired included in the document acquisition information to acquire the document that is the target of acquisition indicated by the information to be acquired. When making the request, the permission acquisition unit 332 transmits the personal identification information included in the document acquisition information, the information identifying the document that is the target of acquisition indicated by the information to be acquired, and the permission information to the provider's provider device 60 via the communication unit 310.

[0037] (3-3) Permit and Liaison Department 333 The authorization linking unit 333 has the function of linking when permission has been granted to acquire a document. When permission to acquire a document is obtained from the provider by the permission acquisition unit 332, the authorization linking unit 333 links the acquisition permission to the document aggregation device 40 via the communication unit 310.

[0038] <4. Functional Configuration of Document Aggregation Device> The configuration of the personal information management device 30 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the document aggregation device 40 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the document aggregation device 40 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the document aggregation device 40 comprises a communication unit 410, a storage unit 420, and a control unit 430.

[0039] (1) Communications Section 410 The communication unit 410 has the function of sending and receiving various types of information. Within the document aggregation processing system 20, the communication unit 410 is connected to the user management device 30 and the document storage device 50 in a communicative manner, and sends and receives various types of information. In addition, the communication unit 410 is connected to the provider device 60 in a communicative manner via the network NW2, and sends and receives various types of information.

[0040] (2) Storage section 420 The storage unit 420 has the function of storing various types of information. The storage unit 420 is composed of storage media provided as hardware by the document aggregation device 40, such as HDD, SSD, flash memory, EEPROM, RAM, ROM, or any combination of these storage media.

[0041] (3) Control unit 430 The control unit 430 has the function of controlling the overall operation of the document aggregation device 40. The control unit 430 is implemented, for example, by causing the CPU or GPU provided as hardware in the document aggregation device 40 to execute a program. As shown in Figure 4, the control unit 430 includes a document acquisition unit 431 and a document linking unit 432.

[0042] (3-1) Document acquisition unit 431 The document acquisition unit 431 has the function of acquiring documents. The document acquisition unit 431 acquires documents from the provider when permission to acquire documents is granted by the provider. The document acquisition unit 431 is aware that permission to acquire documents has been granted by the provider when the communication unit 410 receives permission to acquire from the user management device 30. Accordingly, the document acquisition unit 431 transmits a request for provision of documents to the provider's provider device 60 via the communication unit 410.

[0043] Furthermore, the document retrieval unit 431 periodically checks with providers authorized to retrieve documents whether there are any unretrieved documents, and may retrieve them if necessary. This reduces the burden of document management, as users no longer need to make subsequent document retrieval requests to providers they have already requested.

[0044] (3-2) Document Linkage Department 432 The document linking unit 432 has the function of linking acquired documents. When a document is acquired from the provider by the document acquisition unit 431, the document linking unit 432 links the document to the document storage device 50 via the communication unit 410.

[0045] <5. Functional Configuration of Document Storage Devices> The configuration of the document aggregation device 40 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the document storage device 50 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 5. Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the document storage device 50 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 5, the document storage device 50 comprises a communication unit 510, a storage unit 520, and a control unit 530.

[0046] (1) Communications Section 510 The communication unit 510 has the function of sending and receiving various types of information. Within the document aggregation processing system 20, the communication unit 510 is connected to the document aggregation device 40 in a communicative manner and sends and receives various types of information. In addition, the communication unit 510 is connected to the user terminal 10 in a communicative manner via the network NW1 and sends and receives various types of information.

[0047] (2) Storage section 520 The storage unit 520 has the function of storing various types of information. The storage unit 520 is composed of storage media provided as hardware by the document storage device 50, such as HDD, SSD, flash memory, EEPROM, RAM, ROM, or any combination of these storage media. For example, the storage unit 520 stores documents obtained from each of at least one provider for each user.

[0048] (3) Control unit 530 The control unit 530 has the function of controlling the overall operation of the document storage device 50. The control unit 530 is implemented, for example, by causing the CPU or GPU provided as hardware in the document storage device 50 to execute a program. As shown in Figure 5, the control unit 530 includes a document management unit 531, a document viewing request reception unit 532, and a document output processing unit 533.

[0049] (3-1) Document Management Department 531 The document management unit 531 has the function of managing acquired documents. The document management unit 531 stores documents acquired from each of the at least one provider for each user. Specifically, the document management unit 531 stores the documents received by the communication unit 510 from the document aggregation device 40 in the storage unit 520 for each user.

[0050] Furthermore, the document management department 531 may classify and store documents by category. Categories may include, for example, the source, or life events (e.g., childbirth, child-rearing, etc.).

[0051] (3-2) Viewing Request Reception Department 532 The document viewing request receiving unit 532 has the function of receiving requests from users to view documents. The document viewing request receiving unit 532 becomes aware that a viewing request has been made by a user when the communication unit 510 receives a document viewing request from the user terminal 10.

[0052] (3-3) Document output processing unit 533 The document output processing unit 533 has the function of processing related to document output. When the viewing request receiving unit 532 receives a viewing request, the document output processing unit 533 transmits the document to the user terminal 10 of the user who made the viewing request via the communication unit 510 and displays it.

[0053] <6. Functional Configuration of the Provider Device> The configuration of the document storage device 50 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, the functional configuration of the provider device 60 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 6. Figure 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the provider device 60 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, the provider device 60 includes a communication unit 610, a storage unit 620, and a control unit 630.

[0054] (1) Communications Section 610 The communication unit 610 has the function of sending and receiving various types of information. The communication unit 610 is connected to the document aggregation processing system 20 via the network NW2 and sends and receives various types of information.

[0055] (2) Storage section 620 The storage unit 620 has the function of storing various types of information. The storage unit 620 is composed of storage media provided as hardware by the provider device 60, such as HDD, SSD, flash memory, EEPROM, RAM, ROM, or any combination of these storage media.

[0056] (3) Control unit 630 The control unit 630 has the function of controlling the overall operation of the provider device 60. The control unit 630 is implemented, for example, by causing the CPU or GPU provided as hardware in the provider device 60 to execute a program. As shown in Figure 6, the control unit 630 includes a permission request receiving unit 631, a permission determination unit 632, a permission notification unit 633, a provision request receiving unit 634, and a document provision unit 635.

[0057] (3-1) Permit Request Reception Department 631 The permission request receiving unit 631 has the function of receiving permission requests for document acquisition from the personal information management device 30. The permission request receiving unit 631 becomes aware that a permission request has been made from the personal information management device 30 when the communication unit 610 receives the permission request for document acquisition from the personal information management device 30.

[0058] (3-2) Permission determination unit 632 The permission determination unit 632 has the function of determining whether or not permission should be granted to acquire a document. Based on the identity verification information received by the communication unit 610 along with the acquisition permission request, the information identifying the document to be acquired, and the permission information, the permission determination unit 632 determines whether or not permission should be granted to acquire the document. If it can be confirmed that the user has given permission to acquire the document to be acquired based on this information, the permission determination unit 632 grants permission to acquire the document. On the other hand, if it cannot be confirmed that the user has given permission to acquire the document to be acquired, the permission determination unit 632 does not grant permission to acquire the document.

[0059] (3-3) Permission notification section 633 The permission notification unit 633 has the function of notifying permission to acquire a document. The permission notification unit 633 notifies the user management device 30 of the determination result by the permission determination unit 632 via the communication unit 610.

[0060] (3-4) Service Request Reception Department 634 The document provision request receiving unit 634 has the function of receiving document provision requests from the document aggregation device 40. The document provision request receiving unit 634 becomes aware that a document provision request has been made from the document aggregation device 40 when the communication unit 610 receives the document provision request from the document aggregation device 40.

[0061] (3-5) Document provision department 635 The document provision unit 635 has the function of providing documents. When a document provision request is received by the provision request reception unit 634, the document provision unit 635 provides (transmits) the document to be provided to the document aggregation device 40 via the communication unit 610.

[0062] <7. Processing Flow> The functional configuration of the data provider device 60 according to this embodiment has been described above. Next, the processing flow according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 7. Figure 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing flow in the document aggregation system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0063] As shown in Figure 7, first, the user terminal 10 sends a request to retrieve a document to the user management device 30 in response to an operation by the user (step S101).

[0064] The user management device 30's acquisition request receiving unit 331 recognizes that an acquisition request has been made by a user when the communication unit 310 receives the acquisition request from the user terminal 10, and accepts the acquisition request (step S102). The authorization acquisition unit 332 of the user management device 30 transmits a request for permission to acquire a document and information for acquiring the document to the provider device 60 via the communication unit 310 (step S103).

[0065] The permission request receiving unit 631 of the provider device 60 recognizes that a permission request has been made from the personal information management device 30 when the communication unit 610 receives a permission request for document acquisition from the personal information management device 30, and accepts the permission request (step S104). The authorization determination unit 632 of the providing device 60 determines whether or not to authorize the acquisition of the document based on the identity verification information received by the communication unit 610 along with the request for acquisition permission, the information identifying the document to be acquired, and the authorization information (step S105). The authorization notification unit 633 of the provider device 60 notifies the user management device 30 of the determination result by the authorization determination unit 632 via the communication unit 610 (step S106). In the example shown in Figure 7, an example is shown in which permission has been granted to acquire a document.

[0066] When the user management device 30 receives an authorization notification from the provider device 60 via the communication unit 310 (i.e., when an acquisition authorization is obtained), the authorization linkage unit 333 of the user management device 30 links the acquired authorization to the document aggregation device 40 via the communication unit 310 (step S107).

[0067] When the document acquisition unit 431 of the document aggregation device 40 receives acquisition permission from the user management device 30 via the communication unit 410, it transmits a document provision request to the providing device 60 via the communication unit 410 (step S108).

[0068] The document provision request receiving unit 634 of the providing device 60 recognizes that a document provision request has been made from the document aggregation device 40 when the communication unit 610 receives a document provision request from the document aggregation device 40, and accepts the provision request (step S109). When a document provision request is received by the provision request reception unit 634 of the providing device 60, the document provision unit 635 provides (transmits) the document to be provided to the document aggregation device 40 via the communication unit 610 (step S110).

[0069] When the document aggregation device 40 receives a document from the source device 60 via the communication unit 410, the document linkage unit 432 of the document aggregation device 40 links the document to the document storage device 50 via the communication unit 410 (step S111).

[0070] The document management unit 531 of the document storage device 50 stores the documents received by the communication unit 510 from the document aggregation device 40 in the storage unit 520 for each user (step S112).

[0071] The user terminal 10 sends a document viewing request to the document storage device 50 in response to the user's operation (step S113). The document storage device 50's viewing request receiving unit 532 recognizes that a viewing request has been made by a user when the communication unit 510 receives a document viewing request from the user terminal 10, and accepts the viewing request (step S114). When the document storage device 50 receives a viewing request from the viewing request receiving unit 532, the document output processing unit 533 of the document storage device 50 transmits the document to the user terminal 10 of the user who made the viewing request via the communication unit 510 and displays it (step S115).

[0072] The processing flow according to this embodiment has been described above. As described above, the document aggregation processing system 20 according to this embodiment includes: an acquisition request reception unit 331 that receives requests from users to acquire digitized documents and acquires document acquisition information indicating the information necessary to acquire the documents; an authorization acquisition unit 332 that, based on the document acquisition information, obtains permission to acquire the documents from at least one of the document providers that is the target of acquisition; a document acquisition unit 431 that acquires the documents from the provider when permission to acquire the documents is granted by the provider; and a document management unit that stores the documents acquired from each of the at least one of the provider for each user.

[0073] With this configuration, users can simply request the necessary documents from the document aggregation service SA, and the automatically retrieved and stored documents can be centrally managed on the internet. This simplifies management because users no longer need to access each of the at least one provider themselves to retrieve documents and upload them to online storage themselves. Therefore, the document aggregation processing system 20 according to this embodiment enables efficient management of digitized documents.

[0074] <8. Variation> This embodiment has been described above. Next, modifications of this embodiment will be described. The modifications described below may be applied to the embodiment individually or in combination. Furthermore, the modifications may be applied in place of the configuration described in the embodiment, or additionally to the configuration described in the embodiment.

[0075] In the embodiments described above, an example was given in which the document aggregation processing system 20 is composed of three devices, but the system is not limited to such an example. The document aggregation processing system 20 may be composed of any number of devices. For example, it may be a single device having the functions of the three devices described above, or it may be a configuration of two devices, one device having the functions of two of the three devices described above and the remaining one device, or it may be a configuration of four or more devices having any of the functions of the three devices described above.

[0076] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment described an example in which the documents managed by the document storage device 50 are documents obtained from the source device 60, the invention is not limited to this example. For example, documents manually uploaded by a user from the user terminal 10 may also be managed by the document storage device 50.

[0077] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, document viewing records may be managed. For example, viewing records may be managed by the document management unit 531 of the document storage device 50. The document management unit 531 may send various notifications to the user based on the viewing records. For example, if the date and time when a user viewed a document stored in the storage unit 520 is not recorded, the document management unit 531 may notify the user terminal 10 via the communication unit 510 that there are unviewed documents. Also, if a predetermined period has elapsed since the date and time when the user last viewed a document, the document management unit 531 may notify the user terminal 10 via the communication unit 510 that there are documents that have not been viewed for a predetermined period.

[0078] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, if the provider has a document that they would like the user to review, they may notify the user accordingly. The function for this purpose will be explained with reference to Figure 8. Figure 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a document aggregation device 40a according to a modified example of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 8, the document aggregation device 40a includes a notification processing unit 433 in addition to the functional configuration of the document aggregation device 40 described in the above-described embodiment. The notification processing unit 433 has the function of receiving a notification from the provider informing the user that there is a document that the user should review, and notifying the user of the said notification. If there is a document that the user should review, the document provision unit 635 of the provider device 60 sends a notification to the document aggregation device 40 via the communication unit 610 indicating this. When the notification processing unit 433 of the document aggregation device 40 receives a notification from the provider device 60 via the communication unit 410, it sends the notification to the user terminal 10 via the communication unit 410. The user checks the notification on the user terminal 10 and requests to retrieve the document if they wish to review it. When a retrieval request is made by the user, the document retrieval unit 431 of the document aggregation device 40 retrieves the document. This makes it easier for users to review important documents and other materials.

[0079] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the contents of the acquired documents may be analyzed, and information corresponding to the analysis results may be provided to the user. The functions for this purpose will be explained with reference to Figure 9. Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a document storage device 50a according to a modified example of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the document storage device 50a includes a document analysis unit 534 in addition to the functional configuration of the document storage device 50 described in the above-described embodiment. The document analysis unit 534 has the function of analyzing the content of documents obtained from the provider and providing information based on the analysis results to the user. The analysis of the document content is performed, for example, using generative AI (Artificial Intelligence).

[0080] For example, the document analysis unit 534 generates a summary of the document's content based on the document analysis results and provides it to the user. For example, if there are unread documents among the documents stored in the storage unit 520, the document analysis unit 534 analyzes the content of the unread documents and generates a summary. The document analysis unit 534 transmits the generated summary to the user terminal 10 via the communication unit 510. This makes it easier for users who have difficulty finding time to review documents to do so. Furthermore, it allows for easier comprehension of even documents containing a large amount of information.

[0081] Furthermore, the document analysis unit 534 may generate deadline management information for matters requiring action regarding the document based on the document analysis results and provide it to the user. For example, each time a new document is acquired, the document analysis unit 534 analyzes the contents of the document to check whether a deadline has been set for matters requiring action. If a deadline has been set, the document analysis unit 534 generates deadline management information for managing that deadline. The document analysis unit 534 transmits the generated deadline management information to the user terminal 10 via the communication unit 510. This allows users who have not reviewed the retrieved documents to understand the matters requiring action and their deadlines. Furthermore, it makes it easier for service providers to ensure users adhere to deadlines, reduces the workload associated with missed deadlines, and is expected to reduce workload and improve operational efficiency.

[0082] The above describes some modified embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, some or all of the functions of the document aggregation system 1, user terminal 10, document aggregation processing system 20, user management device 30, document aggregation device 40, document storage device 50, and provider device 60 in the above-described embodiment may be implemented by a computer. In that case, the functions may be implemented by recording a program for implementing these functions on a computer-readable recording medium, loading the program recorded on this recording medium into a computer system, and executing it. Here, "computer system" includes hardware such as the OS and peripheral devices. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into a computer system. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording media" may include those that dynamically hold programs for a short period of time, such as communication lines used when transmitting programs over networks such as the Internet or communication lines such as telephone lines, as well as those that hold programs for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory inside computer systems that act as servers or clients in such cases. Furthermore, the above program may be for the purpose of implementing some of the functions described above, or it may be for the purpose of implementing the above functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, or it may be implemented using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0083] Although embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to those described above, and various design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of this invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0084] 1…Document aggregation system, 10…User terminal, 20…Document aggregation processing system, 30…Personal information management device, 40, 40a…Document aggregation device, 50, 50a…Document storage device, 60…Provider device, 60-1…Financial institution device, 60-2…Local government device, 60-3…Insurance company device, 310…Communication unit, 320…Storage unit, 330…Control unit, 331…Acquisition request reception unit, 332…Permission acquisition unit, 333…Permission linkage unit, 410…Communication unit, 420…Storage unit, 430…Control 431...Document Acquisition Unit, 432...Document Linkage Unit, 433...Notification Processing Unit, 510...Communication Unit, 520...Storage Unit, 530...Control Unit, 531...Document Management Unit, 532...Viewing Request Reception Unit, 533...Document Output Processing Unit, 534...Document Analysis Unit, 610...Communication Unit, 620...Storage Unit, 630...Control Unit, 631...Permission Request Reception Unit, 632...Permission Determination Unit, 633...Permission Notification Unit, 634...Provision Request Reception Unit, 635...Document Provision Unit, NW1, NW2...Network

Claims

1. A document acquisition request reception unit receives requests from users to acquire digitized documents and acquires document acquisition information that indicates the information necessary to acquire the said documents. A permission acquisition unit obtains permission for the acquisition of the document from at least one of the providers of the document to be acquired, based on the document acquisition information, If the provider permits the acquisition of the document, a document acquisition unit acquires the document from the provider, A document management unit that stores the documents obtained from each of the at least one of the aforementioned providers for each of the aforementioned users, A document aggregation and processing system equipped with the following features.

2. The document acquisition unit periodically checks with the provider authorized to acquire the documents whether there are any documents that have not yet been acquired, and acquires any documents that have not yet been acquired. The document aggregation processing system according to claim 1.

3. A notification processing unit receives a notification from the provider informing the user that there is a document that the user should review, and notifies the user of the notification. The document aggregation processing system according to claim 1, further comprising:

4. A document analysis unit that analyzes the contents of the document obtained from the aforementioned provider and provides the user with information based on the analysis results. The document aggregation processing system according to claim 1, further comprising:

5. The document analysis unit generates a summary of the document's contents based on the analysis results and provides it to the user. The document aggregation processing system according to claim 4.

6. The document analysis unit generates deadline management information for matters requiring action regarding the document based on the analysis results and provides it to the user. The document aggregation processing system according to claim 4.

7. A process for receiving requests from users to obtain digitized documents and obtaining document acquisition information that indicates the information necessary to obtain the said documents, A permission acquisition process in which permission is obtained for the acquisition of the document from the provider of the document to be acquired, among the provider of the document to be acquired, based on the information for acquiring the document, If the provider permits the acquisition of the document, the document acquisition process involves acquiring the document from the provider, A document management process for storing the documents obtained from each of the at least one of the aforementioned providers for each of the aforementioned users, A document aggregation processing method performed by a computer, including [the specified element].

8. Computers, A means for receiving requests from users to obtain digitized documents and obtaining document acquisition information that indicates the information necessary to obtain the said documents, A means for obtaining permission to obtain the document from at least one of the providers of the document to be obtained, based on the document acquisition information, If the provider permits the acquisition of the document, a document acquisition means for acquiring the document from the provider, A document management means for storing the documents obtained from each of the at least one of the aforementioned providers for each of the aforementioned users, A program designed to function as such.

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