Digital Travel Credentials - Future of Global Mobility

Can you imagine traveling without a physical passport? Not because your documents are lost, but because you simply no longer need to carry them?

The recent interview conducted by Constance de Leusse, Senior Advisor at the Technology and Global Affairs Innovation Hub, with experts Gabriel Marquié, Head of Digital Identity at the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and Gaëtan Pradel, Director in Standards and Regulations at INCERT, explores a scenario where crossing a border could be as simple as using the NFC function of your phone. 

Their conversation revolve around the transformative impacts of Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs), a new approach to digital identity in air travel that the Hub covered in a previous policy brief focused on legal issues raised by DTCs, co-authored by Gaëtan Pradel and Laurent Grosclaude (University Toulouse Capitole). In this cross-interview, the two technical experts emphasize the importance of adopting standards based on privacy by design. While many different stakeholders may contribute and consult identifying data about travelers at airports, these systems shall always minimize data collection and allow users to control what information they share at each step of the journey.

MM. Marquié and Pradel highlight interoperability as the key requirement for the aviation industry: as they must work across borders, digital identity systems must comply with different legal and  interface with various technical environments. The essential nature of interoperability is the reason why multilateral and multistakeholder entities, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization play a crucial role in bringing actors together and helping establish common standards. These standards are not developed in a vacuum: DTCs used in airports would ideally be compatible with, if not rely on, other forms of widely-adopted cryptographic proofs of identity, such as the new European Digital Identity Wallet.

Finally, the authors also underline that digital credentials and physical passports will coexist for several years to allow progressive regulatory alignment, facilitate inclusive access, and enable coordination across border authorities, airlines, airports, and other merchants. If implemented successfully, Digital Travel Credentials could streamline border crossings through pre-travel verification and faster procedures. They may simplify tourism and mobility while maintaining high-level security and privacy, although human oversight will always be needed to handle complex cases… and analog identity documents.

Read the whole interview in CircleID.