Dock, SITA, Goode Intelligence execs back IATA’s travel digital ID call

Digital identity and aviation industry stakeholders are backing IATA’s call for rapid adoption of digital identity, Verifiable Credentials (VC) and Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) during the Sydney Leaders Week Conference earlier this month.

The call was released weeks after a white paper from IATA titled “Aviation Security Trust Framework: Enhancing aviation security through open Verifiable Credential Standards,” composed in consultation with Savita Farooqui, Lucy Yang, and Kaliya Young of Identity Woman in Business, was released in January.

The paper reviews current security frameworks in the industry, and suggests core components of a comprehensive Aviation Security Trust Framework based on the initial use case of utilizing AOSPs and Supplementary Station Procedures (SSPs).

Dock Labs CEO Nick Lambert calls digital identity for air travel “a no brainer if you look at the benefits they bring.” Those benefits include reduced fraud and unauthorized access, more secure and interoperable cross-border ID verification, “stronger regulatory oversight and better resource allocation,” he says in a LinkedIn post.

SITA SVP Jeremy Springall writes in a blog post that “IATA’s call for action reinforces what we’ve long known: the time to scale digital identity is now.”

He cites the end of the era of trading-off security for efficiency and vice versa, with digital identity improving both, and emphasizes the need for an industry-wide approach instead of “a patchwork of disconnected experiences.” He notes that in addition to convenience benefits for passengers, governments and the aviation industry stand to gain throughput while lowering costs.

Springall says SITA’s latest passenger survey shows clear demand for biometrics and digital identity, with roughly two in three saying that would pay to use biometrics for travel, and three in four comfortable with using digital ID on their smartphone.

Alan Goode says that as an analyst company active in the travel digital identity industry, Goode Intelligence welcomes IATA’s call to action.

“As part of our research into travel digital identity in 2024 we highlighted that the travel industry is offering a blueprint in how to digitise identity in an environment that demands strict security,” Goode says. “It is a sector based on highly secure core infrastructure that is managed by suppliers that are not afraid to embrace cutting-edge technology such as biometrics, digital wallets, and verifiable credentials. It is also an industry that thrives on partnerships and works collectively to develop global interoperable standards including IATA’s One ID initiative. The technology is certainly available and proven and this call to action from IATA will almost certainly prove to be an accelerant for faster and more widespread adoption of solutions that will make it easier and more secure to travel.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  decentralized identifiers (DIDs)  |  digital identity  |  digital travel  |  Dock  |  Goode Intelligence  |  International Air Transport Association  |  SITA  |  verifiable credentials