SITA and Indicio announce a co-innovation agreement
SITA, a multinational information technology company providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry, announced a co-innovation agreement with Indicio, an influencer in the open-source verifiable data technology market and trusted digital ecosystems, to accelerate the development and deployment of digital identities for travel. With this technology, the passengers will be able to securely create a digital credential held on their mobile wallet.
The leading companies in their respective domains, SITA and Indicio, will be working together for the development of digital identities or Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) that enable passengers to securely create a digital version of their physical passport in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.
The DTC is stored as a verifiable credential in the passenger’s mobile wallet. This means travellers can keep control of their personal data and consent to share it as needed with different entities as they travel. Only required passenger data is shared before travel, so passengers arrive at the airport ready to fly with all document checks already completed.
The technology has been built to ensure the automatic and repeated verification of authenticity, integrity, and ownership to mitigate the risk of fraud and enable seamless, secure, and privacy-preserving processes in the airport and throughout the entire journey.
The innovative technology went through a successful trial with the government of Aruba. As part of the trial, passengers arriving at Queen Beatrix International Airport applied for their travel authorisation using a simplified process. Then passengers can consent to share any of their relevant data directly from their digital wallet on their mobile device to multiple entities by using a DTC.
Jeremy Springall, SVP of SITA AT BORDERS, said, “The adoption of digital identities will be the biggest technology breakthrough in the travel industry in decades. It will simplify the identification process at every step of the journey and open up opportunities for the air transport industry to fully embrace the benefits of seamless travel and the digital economy. SITA, together with Indicio, are proud to be leading the charge.”
Heather Dahl, the CEO of Indicio, said, “It is difficult to understate just how significant SITA’s leadership has been in the field of open-source verifiable credential technology and decentralized identity; over the past three years, we’ve collaborated to push this technology forward with a shared vision for what it can do. And we delivered. The horizon has now expanded, filled with a myriad of applications. With SITA’s DTC using Indicio Proven technology, we will make all these applications a reality for passengers, aircrew, airports, borders, hotels, and governments. We are excited about what this partnership can build and deliver.”