Aviation technology specialist SITA and Idemia Public Security, a provider of digital and biometric technologies, have joined forces to drive forward digital identity development and adoption around the world.
The collaboration will look at furthering interoperability, trust and data security as part of a Digital Travel Ecosystem initiative from SITA.
The idea is to develop a trust network bringing together key players from the travel industry to create a more seamless process for travelers by ensuring digital identities are "seamlessly recognized and trusted worldwide."
The Digital Travel Ecosystem, which also involves Indicio, is decentralized to ensure that travelers retain control of their information and enables passengers to share their digital credentials as they choose.
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SITA and Indicio have worked together since the pandemic and announced an expanded partnership from health tests to a digital travel credential last year in Aruba.
“As the travel industry adopts a wide range of digital identity and biometric solutions, ensuring interoperability and trust is key across various sectors,” said Jeremy Springall, senior vice president of norders at SITA.
“With Idemia's collaboration in the Digital Travel Ecosystem, we’re enhancing the ability of stakeholders to trust a travelers’ digital identity across the entire travel journey. This collaboration is critical to advancing global standards for privacy, trust, and security, while enabling smoother operations and reducing costs.”
The Idemia and SITA partnership aims to further expand the ecosystem’s reach to new digital travelers and enable more touchpoints with the goal of "seamless and trusted end-to-end travel experiences" alongside efficiency gains and reduced complexity.
“In a world where data privacy concerns are at the forefront, this approach of an interoperable Digital Travel Ecosystem provides a responsible, transparent solution for ensuring how passenger information is shared,” said Tim Ferris, senior vice president, travel and transport at Idemia. By integrating our technologies around common standards, we can drive global adoption of secured digital capability and biometric authentication, ensuring that passengers’ data remains secure while delivering a streamlined travel experience.”
IATA recently announced the successful completion of a pilot that it claims brings a digital travel experience a step closer. The live trial brought together airline, airport and technology players including blockchain specialist Neoke, a PhocusWire Hot 25 Travel Startup for 2023, for a round-trip between Hong Kong and Japan involving two travelers.
The travelers used Neoke’s digital wallets containing their digital passport, company ID and frequent flyer credentials to obtain personalized offers, book a flight, obtain a visa, check their travel documentation, check-in and receive boarding passes.
Other similar initiatives are ongoing and a recent PhocusWire article explored the direction of current developments as well as the preparedness of the industry, and consumers, for digital wallets.
Digital identity at The Phocuswright Conference
Hear from Neoke's Vikas Bhola, Microsoft's Shane O'Flaherty and Gillian Jones of Condatis during a session on self-sovereign identity and how it can empower travelers at The Phocuswright Conference, November 19-21 in Phoenix.