India to launch face biometrics for vaccinations, digital health passes as trials and plans expand

As digital health pass plans are developed and announced around the world, India is updating its biometric identification at vaccine distribution sites. The IATA Travel Pass will soon be accepted for test results in Singapore, and is one of three solutions being trialled by Japan Airlines. iProov’s CEO says the passes may be with us for years, and a new solution has been launched by Convergence.tech.

India plans face biometrics integration with vaccination program

India’s government is planning to make reduce touchpoints within its COVID-19 vaccination system by implementing Aadhaar face biometrics for contactless identity verification, according to ThePrint.

The UIDAI is planning to implement its facial recognition algorithms to replace fingerprint and iris biometrics at vaccination centers across the country, after the initial success of a pilot in Jharkhand with more than a thousand daily successful biometric authentication a day.

National Health Authority CEO R.S. Sharma, who previously headed the UIDAI, said that once the pilot reaches 50,000 to 60,000 facial authentications, the system will be rolled out nationally. He also said the Co-WIN platform has smoothly generated 3 million digital certificates on the vaccination system’s busiest days.

Co-WIN digital vaccination certificates use the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard, and Sharma suggested they may be used domestically for entry into some buildings.

IATA Travel Pass to verify test results for Singapore-bound travellers

Singapore is accepting COVID-19 PCR test results verified by the IATA Travel Pass, which recently reached a second trial stage with Singapore Airlines, at pre-departure check-in as of May 1.

The decision has been made as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and IATA to facilitate seamless and official travel, the industry body says.

“Having the confidence of an aviation leader like Singapore accept IATA Travel Pass is hugely significant. Ongoing trials put us on track for IATA Travel Pass to be a critical tool for the industry’s restart by delivering verified travel health credentials to governments. And travelers can have complete confidence that their personal data is secure and under their own control. The success of our joint efforts will make IATA’s partnership with the government of Singapore a model for others to follow,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

More than 20 airlines are now trialing or planning to trial the IATA Travel Pass, which was co-developed with Evernym.

iProov CEO suggests digital health passes may be used for ‘quite a number of years’

The UK and other countries may consider using vaccination passes for several years, iProov CEO Andrew Bud told a host of television network LBC, Express reports.

Noting that he is not an epidemiologist, but that the world has been through an economic shock, Bud says “for an abundance of prudence, there is a possibility that Britain or other countries will run these schemes for quite a number of years.”

The UK is planning to implement health passes for large events, but they may not be ready for months, according to the Telegraph.

Japan Airlines to test three

Japan Airlines has announced it will trial of three different digital health passes; the World Economic Forum’s CommonPass, Daon’s biometric pass VeriFLY, and the IATA Travel Pass.

The trials are intended to fast-track JAL’s digital health pass plans, and achieve contactless and seamless self check-ins.

CommonPass will be tested on April 2 and 5, while VeriFLY will be tested on flights between Japan and North America in April, and the IATA Travel Pass will be trialled on select international flights in May.

Trybe.ID TravelPass launched for decentralized credentials

A new digital health pass for travel has been launched by Convergence.tech based on the Trybe.ID a decentralized digital identity and credentialing platform.

Laboratories and other organizations can upload COVID-19 test results or vaccination status to the Trybe.ID TravelPass to create a secure verifiable digital certificate, which is emailed to the traveller in the form of a link. The software uses W3C’s Verifiable Credentials Data Model and Decentralized Identifiers through the OpenID Connect protocol.

“Airlines need to know that presented credentials have been verified, and that passengers have truly tested negative for COVID-19 or have received the vaccine before their flight,” states Convergence.tech CEO Chami Akmeemana. “Our industry-leading layer of security adds legitimacy to the process – no forged test results here.”

Convergence.tech has partnered with Singapore’s Innoquest Diagnostics to issue digital HealthCerts for outbound travellers.

Trybe.ID is the digital identity arm of Convergence.tech.

Article Topics

Aadhaar  |  biometrics  |  Convergence.tech  |  credentials  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  India  |  International Air Transport Association  |  iProov