Chapter 1

Introduction
“yourAmid
significant life events—like buying a house or expecting
firstborn child—lies a less cheerful reality that I experienced
firsthand: the hassle of dealing with manual paperwork.

For the former case, this required a lot of back-and-forth with
the bank, the notary, and the real estate agent, with each of
them requiring a different set of documents (e.g., monthly pay
stubs, bank statements, copies of national registry, etc.) to be
filled in, signed, and sent back for processing.
On the side of the document processors, each document needed
to be classified, key information extracted, and the information
validated against other documents to be able to prove my
solvency in making an offer, applying for a loan, or being drafted
as the future house owner. In between all parties and external
organizations, even more documents were either created, adapted,
or passed along such as the offer, the loan agreement, the deed
of sale, a soil certificate, etc.
This juxtaposition of valuable moments in life with cumbersome
administrative procedures involving manual document
processing forms the backdrop against which I aim to explore
and propose potential solutions in this thesis.

”
1