Information flow between the service providers and consumers is rapidly going to digital form. Usually the document delivery is based on downloading from web-sites or on using electronic mail. The problem with web-downloading is that it takes a considerable amount of consumer's time and attention. On the other hand, e-mail is increasingly exposed to junk mail, spamming and computer viruses.

VTT's PIR concept (Personal Information Repository) combats these problems with a new approach: a software platform, which automatically retrieves the required information from service providers' servers and organises the information in the user's information storage. In addition to improved customer service, the main advantage for the service provider is the achievement of considerable savings in mailing costs.

The concept is not only applicable for business-to-consumer (B2C) services - it will also be used for secure business-to-business (B2B) document delivery.