Thirty minutes from plane to beach. That’s the stress-free vision Aruba had for its tourist-driven economy. Now, thanks to a collaboration with SITA, a global leader in air travel IT, and Indicio, a global leader in decentralized identity, that vision is a reality.
In a presentation at the forthcoming IATA World Financial Symposium (WFS) and World Passenger Symposium (WPS) in Bangkok, Michael Zureik, Senior Digital Identity Architect from SITA, will explain how travelers flying from Atlanta to Aruba used a Digital Travel Credential (DTC) developed by SITA, the government of Aruba, and Indicio, and incorporated it with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) OneID, in collaboration with Delta Air Lines.
The combination enabled travelers to the Caribbean island to get preauthorization for travel before flying (using the DTC), streamline their check-in, baggage drop, and boarding at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta (using IATA One ID), and then cross the border in seconds upon arrival in Aruba (using the DTC). They then boarded a tour bus and were on the beach within the 30-minute time frame.
The result is transformational for international travel. It heralds the arrival of seamless digital travel, where travelers get to hold their data on their mobile devices and present it for instant cryptographic verification to prove who they are. This streamlines the journey from booking to arrival, reduces waiting times, especially at border crossings, while providing data privacy for the traveler and better security for airlines, airports, and governments.
The trial is the first of its kind to merge the two leading decentralized digital travel identities into one workflow. Because the DTC is an authenticated digital version of a verified passport and is bound to its rightful owner through liveness and biometric checks, governments can trust it for travel authorization and border crossing. While IATA’s One ID uses Verifiable Credential technology to streamline airport processes, it is not a digital representation of a passport and can’t be used to cross a border.
Indicio developed the Atlanta-Aruba PoC and the software to create, hold, and verify both the DTC and OneID Verifiable Credentials, demonstrating the company’s expertise in developing Verifiable Credential and decentralized identity technology and solutions.
“As a company driving seamless digital transformation using Verifiable Credentials, we were tremendously excited to bring SITA and IATA together in Aruba,” said Heather Dahl, CEO of Indicio. “In addition to developing and implementing the world’s first Digital Travel Credential for SITA, we had the privilege of taking IATA’s vision for One ID and making it reality. And then we combined both in Aruba’s ground-breaking travel app, AHOP.
Jeremy Springall, SVP of Borders at SITA, added, “This collaboration represents a significant step forward in redefining travel experiences. By using the power of digital credentials, we are not only enhancing efficiency but also prioritizing traveler privacy and security.”
“This is a showcase for Indicio’s technical expertise in decentralized identity,” said Dahl. “There is nothing we can’t do when it comes to designing and optimizing seamless authentication. But this trial was also an important market signal. In a world that is rapidly embracing digital identities and credentials for all kinds of data sharing, there will be many different solutions, some with more and better features than others. You never need to be limited by these choices. Because we build on interoperable standards, we can wrap credentials together and create workflows that deliver the best possible performance and user experience, easily adopt new features, and keep driving market innovation.”
SITA’s Zureik will present on the Atlanta-Aruba trial in World Ballroom B on Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 3:15pm.
For more information about Digital Travel Credentials, combining them with One ID, or other uses for verifiable credentials, visit Indicio.tech or contact us directly.
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