Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel: Lessons from KTDI - a Public-Private Collaboration for Secure and Seamless Travel ...
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Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel: Lessons from KTDI – a Public-Private Collaboration for Secure and Seamless Travel WHITE PAPER OCTOBER 2021
Cover: Phive2015, Getty Images – Inside: Getty Images
Contents
4 Foreword
5 Executive summary
6 1 Restoring trust in travel: the need for digital credentials
8 1.1 Emerging approaches for digital credentials in travel
11 2 A case study for digital credentials in travel – KTDI: the journey so far
13 2.1 Timeline and achievements
15 3 Opportunities for collaboration
17 3.1 Value of collaboration
19 3.2 Roles in the ecosystem – adapting to change
19 3.3 Embarking on your collaboration journey
22 3.4 Opportunities for collaboration to drive the adoption of digital travel
credentials
24 4 Toolkit for building public-private ecosystems: lessons learned from KTDI and
considerations for deployment
25 4.1 Ecosystem building: strategy and guiding considerations
28 4.2 Ecosystem governance considerations
29 4.3 Legal and regulatory considerations
30 4.4 Technology considerations
32 Conclusion
33 Glossary/abbreviations
36 Contributors
37 Endnotes
Disclaimer
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Economic Forum as a contribution to a
project, insight area or interaction. The
findings, interpretations and conclusions
expressed herein are a result of a
collaborative process facilitated and
endorsed by the World Economic Forum
but whose results do not necessarily
represent the views of the World Economic
Forum, nor the entirety of its Members,
Partners or other stakeholders.
© 2021 World Economic Forum. All rights
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Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 2
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 3
October 2021 Accelerating the Transition
to Digital Credentials for Travel
Foreword
Pedro Gomez
Christine Leong
Head of Shaping the Future
Global Digital Identity
of Mobility; Member of
& Biometrics Lead and
the Executive Committee,
Managing Director, Accenture
World Economic Forum
As the demand for cross-border travel resumes travel credentials that are trusted, widely accepted,
in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need interoperable and adopted across sectors and
for a more coherent, touchless, efficient, safe borders, as well as by travellers themselves, the
and secure travel continuum is more important KTDI concept is now more relevant than ever.
than ever before. The travel ecosystem needs to
adopt efficient and touchless solutions to address This paper is the result of collaboration between the
the challenges of sharing and verifying travel World Economic Forum, Accenture and industry
documents and credentials in an increasingly digital and government partners to boldly envision a
world. Where digital credentials were first identified new future for cross-border travel and co-design
as an innovative and future-looking approach to a trusted, shared and mutually beneficial system,
addressing concerns about border security, the with the traveller at the centre. Multistakeholder
pandemic has brought that future forward – along efforts such as these are never simple, but they are
with an urgent need to address public health necessary if we are to address shared challenges.
security in cross-border travel. Based on the lessons learned and best practices
captured from the KTDI journey so far, we have put
Multistakeholder collaboration is crucial in moving together this playbook to facilitate global public-
towards more secure and resilient international private collaboration efforts on the deployment of
travel. Actors from across border agencies, digital travel credential solutions. The playbook
travel partners, public health departments and proposes opportunities for collaboration as well as
technology providers will need to work together considerations for those embarking on the process
to create a trusted, widely accepted system of of introducing digital credentials in travel.
digital credentials for travel that will help facilitate
the reopening of international travel and move the We are grateful to the public- and private-sector
industry towards safer, more efficient travel. partners who provided the testing environment
for the KTDI concept, and for their long-standing
The World Economic Forum, together with its support of the Known Traveller Digital Identity
partners, has been exploring solutions to improve Consortium. Having championed this transition
seamless and secure travel challenges through to a traveller-centric, security-enhancing and
the Known Digital Traveller Identity (KTDI) concept, technology-forward travel system, the Forum and
introduced in January 2018, as part of its Shaping its partners are excited to collaborate further with
the Future of Security in Travel project. As the travel organizations that share the KTDI vision, within the
sector urgently looks for approaches to establish travel sector and beyond.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 4Executive summary
The Known Traveller Digital Identity (KTDI) concept those that already exist; they will have to work
was introduced in 2018 to explore how emerging with current capabilities such as essential public
technology innovations could promote more key infrastructure if they are to augment their
efficient, secure and seamless travel against a reachability and scalability to sectors beyond
backdrop of increasing traveller volumes, security border control.
requirements and constraints on resources and
infrastructure capacity. Since then, the World KTDI is unique compared to other consortia efforts
Economic Forum and its partners have designed in that it is government-led and rooted in a common
and built the first government-led public-private vision and set of values shared by all partners. While
ecosystem to test these new processes and pilot efforts have been affected by the pandemic,
technologies in a cross-border context and embark the consortium’s achievements and expertise serve
on the development of a globally accepted digital as a valuable blueprint to inform other similar efforts
travel credentials ecosystem. being developed globally.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended global This report outlines the main achievements,
aviation, travel and tourism and accelerated lessons learned and best practices from KTDI
the digital transition on which the sector had efforts so far. Furthermore, it aims to facilitate
already begun to embark. As the use of verifiable multistakeholder dialogue and the development
documents (e.g. government-issued identity of actionable strategies that help improve border
vaccination certificates, proof of negative COVID-19 and health screening, touchless traveller processes
tests) becomes a requirement for safe cross- and more effective use of traveller data. As more
border movement, global demand for trusted governments seek to explore digital credentials
digital credentials across sectors and borders has for travel, this report is also intended to serve as a
surged. Many governments have leveraged existing “playbook” for policy-makers and industry leaders
capabilities to meet the need for digital credentials to guide decision-making and assess important
that enable domestic and cross-border movements. considerations in the areas of governance, legal
Numerous other initiatives have also been launched regulation and technology as they relate to the
as a result of the pandemic to meet this gap. This wider travel continuum.
has led to a proliferation of different approaches.
Governments globally need to collaborate and The success of any public-private travel ecosystem
employ emerging solutions to enable a more relies on robust government leadership and action,
cohesive ecosystem for the industry and the wider effective intergovernmental collaboration and
public. Public-private as well as cross-sector participation by multiple private-sector partners
collaboration is more crucial than ever before to and international organizations, with a strong focus
set a clear path forward and establish a trusted on serving the traveller at the centre. The World
framework that can adapt to changing conditions Economic Forum and KTDI partners are committed
and scale quickly. to promoting such multistakeholder collaboration,
which is needed in an increasingly complex and
The ecosystem of digital travel solutions and rapidly evolving travel ecosystem.
approaches has significantly expanded since the
inception of KTDI, with decentralized identity, KTDI’s vision is to achieve global collaboration
biometrics and decentralized ledger technologies between partner organizations interested in working
becoming more widespread and increasingly together on globally trusted digital credentials that
referenced in leading industry policy guidance and are widely accepted, interoperable and adopted
frameworks. Despite this progress, the ecosystem across sectors and borders and by travellers
remains deeply fragmented, in part due to the themselves. The Forum and its KTDI partners invite
lack of a globally accepted trust framework, interested stakeholders who share a similar vision to
with disparate solutions often causing confusion explore further collaboration and shape the future of
and stagnation in the market. Additionally, these secure and seamless travel.
new capabilities must be complementary to
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 51 Restoring trust in travel:
the need for digital
credentials
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 6Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the travel industry touchless borders are needed more than ever to
was already under increasing pressure from a rise in restore confidence in travel, enable efficient traveller
traveller volumes, enhanced security requirements, processing and prepare for the industry recovery.
limited physical infrastructure, and ageing
processes and systems.1 Cross-border travel was Travellers, who now need a number of different
expected to grow by 50% over the ensuing decade documents to travel, also expect and support
and reach 1.8 billion international arrivals by 2030.2 digital innovation to enable a seamless travel
While COVID-19 has heavily affected the travel experience. A March 2021 International Air
industry, borders have started to reopen due to the Transport Association (IATA) poll showed that 89%
increasing number of vaccinated individuals and of travellers support globally standardized digital
advances in testing. In fact, international passenger certifications.4 However, the proliferation of various
numbers are now expected to grow and exceed digital solutions for travel in the past year has
pre-pandemic levels by 5% as soon as 2023. actually made cross-border movement even more
confusing and cumbersome, especially as many
Having said that, as a result of the pandemic, countries and industry players have developed
airlines and border officials now have to manually their solutions in siloes. The ecosystem remains
verify additional documentation that is often deeply fragmented and lacks common standards,
paper-based, easy to lose and not difficult to fake. and the market often favours speed to market
This causes longer queues at airports, making over functionality, consistency, safety and fraud
travel increasingly confusing for travellers and prevention. This can lead to digital “passes” and
all stakeholders involved. For instance, airport “certificates” falling short of user expectations and
processing times have doubled, reaching three becoming a hotly debated political topic, with many
hours during peak times despite travel volumes countries facing an intense public backlash.
hovering at around 30% of pre-COVID-19 rates,
i.e. 2019 levels.3 In addition, travellers want to have The confusion and fragmentation in the market
certainty that their documents will be accepted reiterates the need to focus on innovation and
before they leave home, that they won’t have to global collaboration to address some of the biggest
spend much time at the border and that they will challenges in border reopening and industry
be able to board their flight. Digital credentials and recovery, which include:
FIGURE 1 Key challenges in restoring cross-border travel
INEFFICIENCY
Data indicates ongoing delays at airports due to additional
processing time to validate passengers’ identity and health status.
Many airports currently require full staffing levels to process as little
as 10–15% of pre-COVID traveller numbers.5 Modelling also
suggests that without automated digital solutions the average
AMBIGUITY passenger processing and waiting time could balloon to eight hours
per trip when traffic returns to 100% of pre-COVID levels (the
average time required pre-COVID was 1.5 hours).6
Existing guidance on digital credentials, such as COVID-19 certificates,
varies from country to country, is unclear and often results in confusion
as well as additional costs for both individuals and organizations. A May
2021 IATA survey across 11 countries suggests that 70% of travellers
feel their willingness to travel is affected by confusing government travel
restrictions and rules.7 Airlines are also affected by the ambiguity FORGERY
because they risk being fined if they allow passengers onboard who do
not comply with the ever-changing destination country rules.8 Alignment
on globally accepted digital credentials is paramount to minimizing the Counterfeit credentials (both paper and digital) are a growing problem.9
cost, removing friction and restoring international travel. In the UK, for instance, the number of dark-web vendors selling fake
COVID-19 test certificates increased from 20 in November 2020 to
more than 1,200 in March 2021. Around 100 people a day are caught
holding fake test certificates from different countries by the UK border
P R I VA C Y authorities.10 Standards-based digital solutions are needed that can
verify document authenticity and integrity, securely bind them to the
Privacy concerns affect the pace of innovation and adoption. Airlines, traveller’s identity (e.g. through biometrics) and remove fabricated
for instance, need to comply with varying country requirements but documents from circulation.
also seek to minimize the amount of personal data that they have to
process, especially when it comes to particularly sensitive information
such as health records. Travellers are wary of solutions that ask for
personal data, particularly if it is not clear what data is being shared, INTEROPERABILITY
with whom and why. Travellers would, however, support secure and
privacy-preserving digital solutions: a March 2021 IATA poll showed
Lack of standardized and globally trusted digital credentials is
that 84% would like to have an app to manage their travel credentials,
hindering cross-border multistakeholder collaboration, often resulting
in which they have full control over their data.11
in the reintroduction of physical documents. While many countries
around the world have already launched digital or partially digital
identity schemes, only a few programmes have achieved high levels
of adoption and use rates; this is in most part due to the lack of
interoperability.12 In the travel industry, interoperability gaps result in
travellers having to prove their identity multiple times during the same
trip and they often have difficulties in proving their health status
outside of their own country.13 Globally trusted and adopted
standards are urgently needed to reconnect the world.14BOX 1 The importance of interoperability – ICAO example: globally accepted travel documents
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)’s machine-readable travel documents (MRTD)
and electronic machine-readable travel documents (eMRTDs) are globally interoperable because
all participating stakeholders (member states) agreed to conform to the corresponding technical
specifications for their issuance and verification as prescribed in ICAO governance and trust frameworks.
ICAO’s eMRTD is the most widely used, globally interoperable digital credential in use today.
These challenges prove that the benefits of using collaboration on globally trusted and accepted digital
digital credentials in travel cannot be realized through credentials is fundamental to moving the industry
isolated or one-off approaches. Multistakeholder towards more secure and seamless travel.
1.1 Emerging approaches for digital credentials
in travel
As a result of COVID-19, multiple solutions When COVID-19 hit, the International Civil Aviation
have started to emerge that try to meet the Organization (ICAO)’s Public Key Directory
global demand for trusted digital credentials for (PKD) was already using the well-established
travel. Ecosystems will derive the most value by PKI approach to support its eMRTDs. Due to
recognizing that different approaches will have the pandemic, international organizations and
their respective advantages and limitations but that governments around the world started to further
they also can and should work together. Above explore the capabilities of PKI-based solutions
all, a scalable and sustainable approach should to address new challenges being faced by the
be driven by a common vision and the willingness travel industry – specifically, to augment existing
to collaborate and create an interoperable foundational identity information with health status
ecosystem rather than by focusing purely on the information in a globally interoperable, privacy-
technology itself. Piloting globally trusted digital preserving, secure, verifiable, digital fashion. The
credentials should also not mean committing ICAO Visible Digital Seal (VDS), the European
to one approach exclusively, or replacing one Union (EU) Digital COVID Certificate (DCC) and the
system with another, but rather serve to encourage World Health Organization Digital Documentation
stakeholders to look for ways to build upon and of COVID-19 Certificates (DDCC) specification are
integrate with existing solutions. a few examples of the efforts in the trusted digital
credentials space.
In the increasingly crowded and complex
ecosystem of digital credentials for travel we are However, while PKI-based digital identity
seeing two major approaches that could work approaches such as ICAO’s eMRTD have
together: centralized public key infrastructure established governance frameworks and work
(PKI) and decentralized digital identity. well for border control, their extensibility remains a
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 8challenge. As access to the ICAO’s PKD is limited multiple public and private ecosystem participants,
to member states, the ICAO’s eMRTD or, in the facilitating global cross-border and cross-sector
future, Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) cannot easily collaboration. This emerging approach also enables
be extended to support private-sector use cases users to selectively disclose verifiable credentials
such as boarding, hotel check-in, access to venues, securely and under informed consent with verifying
etc.15 Moreover, PKI-based digital credentials do parties in advance (e.g. prior to travel) and
not support selective disclosure. In the context of subsequently allows users to benefit from touchless
QR code-based COVID credentials, they require a travel and seamless verification.
portal or similar means to facilitate pre-travel sharing
and may need to be presented again during travel. While solutions based on decentralized digital identity
QR -based COVID credentials used today are allow for extensibility, it is important to acknowledge
neither secure nor private. They contain PII and PHI, that a fully established governance framework for
which can be read (they are not encrypted) and decentralized identity ecosystems does not yet exist
duplicated, so do not resolve the issue of fraudulent and standards are still evolving.
credentials in the market.
All in all, centralized PKI-based digital identity and
Decentralized digital identity systems, also known decentralized digital identity solutions both have
as self-sovereign identity (SSI) systems, started to important advantages and limitations, but they do
gain popularity before COVID-19 due to their focus not have to be mutually exclusive. Below is a high-
on user control over personal data, as well as the level example of how centralized PKI-based digital
increasing maturity of the open standards that such identity and decentralized identity solutions could
systems are based on. Decentralized digital identity work together, incorporating the ICAO’s eMRTD or
initiatives, such as KTDI or the IATA’s Travel Pass, DTC into decentralized identity verifiable credentials.
allow secure sharing of trusted, verifiable data with
FIGURE 2 Emerging approaches for digital credentials in travel (example/illustrative only)
Shares verifiable credentials
1 3 (DTC and/or proof of COVID status
Issues DTC credential)
(e.g. SSI-based)
Government
Extension
(Issues digital identity into other
document ) 5
industries
ser VERIFIER
yu
erif
C to v y
DT enti t Individual
Uses id Digital wallet
Healthcare authority (e.g. KTDI)
(Issues proof of lth
hea
COVID status t a ins tial QR HOLDER
credential) 2 Ob reden sed Airline Airports Destination government Other service
c I-ba
K provider
. g . P ode)
(e c
ISSUER
4
Verifies
credentials
Blockchain network (SSI)/Public Key Directory (PKD)
Verifiable Data Registry
Key roles: information to make business or service delivery
decisions, or to enable access to services16
– I S S U E R : Creates and issues an identity
credential based on a set of identity claims Key activities:
made by users
1. The government validates the ICAO eMRTD
– H O L D E R : The person or entity that uses an (or DTC) and issues the foundational identity
issued digital identity to access services verifiable credential to the individual’s KTDI
wallet based on W3C standards.
– V E R I F I E R : The entity that consumes an
identity credential from an issuer and trusts that
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 9– Additional W3C-compliant verifiable individual to selectively disclose only the
credentials can be added to the wallet; e.g. information required by the relaying party
a proof of COVID status verifiable credential and perform these exchanges through
issued by a healthcare authority or a QR encrypted channels.
code-based COVID credential.
4. Each verifiable credential is validated
2. The traveller selectively discloses required (authenticity, integrity and revocation status)
information from the foundational identity verifiable using a decentralized Verifiable Data Registry.
credential to verify their identity with the healthcare In the case of centralized PKI-based verifiable
authority and requests the proof of COVID status credentials, an authorized verifier would
verifiable credentials. The healthcare authority ultimately need access to the ICAO master
issues the proof of COVID status verifiable list or PKD to authenticate the eMRTD or
credentials into the user’s wallet. DTC itself, and revocation status is not on an
individual basis – it typically covers thousands of
3. The traveller individually consents to selectively credentials.
disclose the required foundational identity
information and proof of COVID status 5. Extension into other industries (for any
information with their airline, airports and credential).
destination government.
Scalable and globally accepted solutions will have
– Decentralized digital identity benefit: to be extensible to support various emerging
Unlike QR code-based passes, which do standards and approaches to enable seamless
not support selective disclosure and expose domestic and international travel. We can expect
personal identifiable information (PII) and the world to end up with multiple centralized and
protected health information (PHI) when decentralized solutions for travel digital credentials
exchanged, verifiable credentials enable the that will ultimately need to work together.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 102 A case study for digital
credentials in travel –
KTDI: the journey so far
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 11Since 2018, the KTDI partners have designed While KTDI pilot efforts have been affected by
and built the first government-led public- the pandemic, COVID-19 has also created an
private ecosystem to test a vision of safe opportunity to conduct further analysis on how
and seamless cross-border travel. This vision decentralized digital identity and PKI-based
aimed to reduce touchpoints through the use approaches could work together. Although the initial
of emerging technologies, including biometrics pilot employed a decentralized identity approach
and decentralized identity, and inform the future to trial trusted digital credentials, in the future, KTDI
development of a globally accepted decentralized could expand to incorporate additional verifiable
identity ecosystem. While at its inception the KTDI credentials (e.g. COVID-19 vaccination certificates)
concept or the notion of decentralized identity to as well as PKI-based digital credentials (e.g. ICAO
facilitate cross-border travel was not yet mainstream DTC). The consortium’s achievements and expertise
or widely understood, KTDI partners worked can serve as a valuable blueprint to inform other
together to establish a common vision and a core similar efforts being stood up globally.
set of values and together found innovative ways to
overcome KTDI conceptualization challenges.
FIGURE 3 KTDI’s pilot partners
The Government
of the Netherlands The World
Economic Forum
Accenture
Air Canada The Government
of Canada
Amsterdam
Airport Schiphol KTDI
PILOT
PA R T N E R S
KLM Royal
IDEMIA Vision Box
Dutch Airlines
Greater Toronto Aéroports de
Airport Authority Montréal
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 122.1 Timeline and achievements
The high-level timeline below outlines the key KTDI milestones and achievements since its inception in 2018.
FIGURE 4 KTDI timeline and achievements
JUNE 2019 KTDI mobile application
Sign-off of two Interdepartmental
letters of intent government blockchain
-
based platform
JUNE 2019
Complementarity of the
KTDI pilot consortium was
launched on 26 June 2019 IATA ONE ID and ICAO DTC
2018 2019 2020 2021
Ongoing analysis on how
JUNE 2019 KTDI could incorporate
MARCH 2020 health credentials and PKI-
Pilot demonstration at the
JANUARY 2018 Known Traveller Digital Identity: based approaches
Montreal Trudeau Specifications Guidance was
The Known Traveller: Unlocking the International Airport published
Potential of Digital Identity for Secure
and Seamless Travel was published
DEMO
Achieved GDPR
compliance
Legal working group
started defining legal
and policy
requirements
Following the publication of the KTDI concept report World Economic Forum stakeholders, it was
and the formation of the consortium, KTDI achieved considered to be somewhat futuristic, if not
notable delivery, governance and legal milestones impossible to achieve. The piloting process
throughout 2020 and 2021, in particular: enabled partners to demonstrate that this
radically innovative future state was possible
– Establishment of an interdepartmental and to show how the concept was directionally
government blockchain: The Government aligned with both the IATA’s One ID and the
of Canada, in collaboration with Accenture, ICAO’s DTC programmes. The common thread
completed the testing of an interdepartmental is the ability of travellers to share trusted,
government blockchain-based digital verifiable information prior to travel to enable
identity management platform in a simulated touchless, accurate identity confirmation at
environment. Government departments airport checkpoints.
collaborated extensively to illustrate the KTDI
proof of concept internally, further facilitating – Definition of cross-border legal and
acceptance throughout the various government policy requirements: The regulatory and
departments and building trust in the legal considerations at both the national/
ecosystem. In addition, this proof of concept interdepartmental level and the binational/cross-
was the first step towards gaining wider border level were the most challenging and
acceptance for using a decentralized digital complex to navigate, given the multijurisdictional
identity solution for travel within a government nature of identity and the need to align vision,
setting and driving alignment between several mandates and policies across all levels. Through
different agencies and departments. the creation of a dedicated legal working group
with representatives from each organization,
– Conceptually aligned with the IATA’s ONE KTDI partners identified the key legal and policy
ID and the ICAO’s Digital Travel Credential implications and requirements of a decentralized
(DTC) guidance: When the KTDI concept was identity ecosystem for cross-border travel,
initially presented to the broader community of and were able to capture these learnings for
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 13such cross-border efforts in future. This group aims to continue driving scalability and to pilot
assessed requirements and issues regarding new travel use cases. The ongoing pandemic
intellectual property (IP) rights, liability, data has created an opportunity to conduct
sharing and privacy, and compliance with further analysis of how KTDI could support
relevant data protection regulations. Specific health digital credentials, such as COVID-19
information is included in Section 4. vaccination certificates, and how decentralized
digital identity and PKI-based approaches could
– KTDI mobile application: All partners work together to support the future of cross-
are proud of the joint effort to develop the border travel.
KTDI mobile application, which is based on
contributions from industry, governments, legal While the KTDI pilot effort is paused as border
consultations and vendors, and has received reopening processes continue, KTDI partners
accolades from like-minded initiatives. Co- remain committed to collaborating with other like-
designing this mobile application meant that minded organizations to this end and exploring
individual company or government departmental how KTDI could be expanded to help reopen
needs could not take priority over the overall international travel. The need for trusted digital
user experience, thus ensuring exceptional travel credentials as a result of COVID-19 is
user-centricity. paramount and clearly, from the different solutions
that have emerged, the pandemic has served as
– Achieved GDPR compliance: Through multiple a burning platform urging stakeholders to get the
review cycles and by working closely with legal design of trusted digital credentials for travel right.
and data privacy experts as well as a service
design agency, the KTDI partners designed and This is a pivotal moment. Now, more than ever
developed a KTDI mobile application that is fully before, public- and private-sector players within the
GDPR-compliant and acceptable for all partners travel ecosystem need to take collaborative action
to use. The mobile app’s design balances a and work towards a common goal of re-enabling
seamless user experience with informed data- people to travel while reducing confusion, anxiety or
sharing consent, whereby the user remains in complexity for travellers, staff and travel authorities.
control of their personal data. Multistakeholder collaboration is critical to reopening
international travel. Organizations have the
– Ongoing analysis of KTDI expansion: As a opportunity to work on digital credentials to make
result of COVID-19 and the surging demand travel safer, more seamless and more efficient.
for globally trusted digital credentials, KTDI
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 143 Opportunities for
collaboration
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 15Travel and tourism was one of the world’s largest Establishing digital credentials for travel that are
sectors in 2019, accounting for 10.4% of global accepted by governments, the private sector,
GDP ($9.2 trillion) and 10.6% (334 million) of all international organizations and travellers is a complex
jobs – responsible, in fact, for creating one in four undertaking. With different organizations plus
new jobs across the world. Although COVID-19 different missions and goals, various barriers become
has hampered progress, the effect of the pandemic apparent at the start of the collaboration process.
has emphasized the tremendous importance and However, digital travel credentials will provide value
positive contribution this industry can have. World for all organizations within the travel ecosystem.
Travel & Tourism Council research shows that if Greater efficiencies can be realized while enhancing
international mobility and travel is resumed by 2021, the security of both the individual traveller and
the 62 million jobs (18.5%) lost in 2020 could be borders, and consequently improving experiences
recovered before the end of 2022.17 Existing travel and processes for both travellers and organizations.
organizations and systems are ill-equipped to deal
with the urgent need for touchless borders, the Getting this process right, however, requires
increasingly complex demands on airline, security coordinated collaboration on vision, mission,
and border staff, the volume of passenger numbers governance, standards and technology.
and increasing security and health requirements – in Organizations with a common vision and mission to
addition to infrastructure capacity limits. enable seamless travel can collaborate to establish
a scalable and sustainable ecosystem, achieve
With the increased pressures and complex industry and global adoption and maximize the
requirements, organizations within the travel value of credentials for all partners and travellers.
ecosystem need to evolve. Collaborating with
other organizations on integrating seamless Above all, to move towards meaningful
and touchless travel mechanisms is essential to collaboration on travel credentials, organizations
enhance the traveller experience and improve need to adopt a user-centric mentality to deliver
efficiencies across a number of processes in genuine value and encourage widespread adoption.
different organizations, enabling safe, trusted Operational efficiency and enhanced traveller
travel and so reducing some of the burdens that experience can be achieved only if the seamless
organizations in the travel continuum face today. travel solution is embraced by all parties. Each
Operational inefficiencies in handling the increasing organization may have its own incentives, limitations
demand for global travel will continue to grow if and objectives, but the entire ecosystem needs a
they are not properly addressed in the near future. common vision to promote safe and seamless travel
Collaboration between the public and private for the traveller. Failing this, the travel ecosystem will
sectors is critical to restore international travel and remain deeply fragmented, with disparate solutions
develop the travel and tourism industry. causing confusion and stagnation in the market.
BOX 2 The Importance of collaboration – digital travel credential issuance in Canada
In Canada, valid forms of identification can be issued by federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions.18
Canadian citizens are demanding a more integrated process: more than 70% want government and
private-sector collaboration on a joint identity framework in Canada.19 A digital identification infrastructure
in Canada and other similar countries could benefit from a collaborative public-private approach, enabling
interoperability with different systems in the travel ecosystem to facilitate seamless interactions for the
traveller, e.g. at the airport to pass through security, board the plane and cross borders through to car
rental and checking into the hotel.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 163.1 Value of collaboration
Given the complexity of the travel ecosystem and helping to transform the user experience and
the diversity of the organizations involved, having creating efficiencies throughout the end-to-end
stakeholders from both government and travel- travel experience. Figure 5 articulates the value
sector private partners (e.g. airlines) is critical to enhancements that can be attributed to using
fully realize the benefits of digital credentials for digital credentials for travel.
travel. These include minimizing risks and costs,
FIGURE 5 Incentives for collaborating on digital credentials for travel
Establishing
cross-border and
cross-sector trust
Reducing
operational Enhancing
inefficiencies security
.
Resuming Improving
the travel
safe travel
experience
Reducing operational inefficiencies: travellers to quickly continue their journey, while
the organization can focus its resources on the
– Traveller journeys are often slowed by right priorities. Organizations can leverage this
inefficiencies such as repetitive manual checking efficiency to process additional passengers
of information, which result in longer queues and improve management of staff allocation,
and cost impacts for airports, airlines and benefitting from the reduction in operational and
border management organizations. Currently, compliance costs.
travellers must present their identity credentials
at least six times from pre-check-in to inbound Establishing cross-border and cross-
border control on an international journey.20 sector trust:
Following the resumption of international travel,
55% of travellers found the process of air travel – Fraudulent travel credentials pose real security
– booking, getting to the airport and boarding – risks and operational inefficiencies to travel
more stressful than work.21 organizations and border agencies. With more
than 100 fake COVID-19 certificates detected
– Digital travel credentials provide a quicker and per day on entry to the United Kingdom, large
more seamless way to process and check amounts of effort and cost are required to
trusted data such as passports, visa and validate documents to gain assurance of their
health status in advance, enabling pre-cleared trustworthiness.22
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 17– With digital travel credentials, passengers Improving the travel experience:
can securely provide their trusted identity
information, in advance, without needing to – With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
present multiple physical documents at each travellers are required to carry and present
checkpoint. In return, the interacting public and multiple, often paper-based, documents at
private organizations can verify that the data various touchpoints. This has resulted in longer
provided is legitimate, up to date and has not queues at airports, with an increase of up to six
been altered or revoked, and thus pre-clear the hours at the peak of the pandemic.24
traveller quickly.
– Advance pre-trip digital sharing of trusted,
Enhancing security: verifiable information means that an organization
is able to quickly validate shared data ahead
– With the increased number of travellers, and of time and therefore create a more seamless
as the world becomes more connected than and less confusing experience for the traveller,
ever before, security concerns are greater than ultimately resulting in improved satisfaction.25
ever. The Department of Homeland Security’s
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has Resuming safe travel:
requested $8.9 billion for the fiscal year 2022
to spend on aviation security to accomplish its – In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,
transportation security mission, an increase of requirements are in place to ensure the
$47.7 million over its previous budget.23 travelling process is as safe as possible. The
aviation industry alone lost $370 billion in
– With a trusted ecosystem and travel credentials, 2020 due to the pandemic.26 Recovery from
businesses can realize greater confidence and the economic impact will rely on travellers
security. Digital credentials for travel enable wishing to travel again, and thus travel-related
easier identity verification and risk assessment businesses and government departments will
as the information presented is trusted within need to adapt to new requirements to provide a
the travel ecosystem and is often available to safe and secure environment.
border and law enforcement officials earlier in
the travel journey, allowing more time to process – Enabling a touchless travel experience can help
and assess the information. restore travellers’ confidence in cross-border
travel in the wake of the pandemic, as well as
reduce the risk of transmission for both travellers
and staff, given that physical contact is reduced.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 183.2 Roles in the ecosystem – adapting to change
Governments, the private sector and international understand the impact of moving towards digital
organizations already have well-established roles in travel credentials, what this means to their unique
the travel ecosystem. Adopting digital credentials role in the ecosystem and furthermore what
for travel, however, requires ecosystem partners to organizational changes will be required.
adapt existing mandates, processes, technology
and operations. Each organization needs to
FIGURE 6 Roles in the travel ecosystem
INTERNATIONAL
GOVERNMENT PRIVATE SECTOR ORGANIZATION
Take a leadership role to engage other govern- Collaborate with governments and other Research and evaluate ongoing seamless and
ments and private-sector organizations to drive a private-sector partners to support the ecosystem touchless travel credential initiatives around the
digital ecosystem for seamless travel on relevant standards and technologies to enable globe to understand emerging and innovative
seamless travel technologies and standards
Collaborate with travel ecosystem partners and Provide meaningful feedback on the legal and International organizations such as ICAO could
other governments on relevant standards and regulatory policies and framework for seamless consider taking initiatives such as KTDI under
technologies to reduce the need for multiple sets travel credentials their wing to evaluate their existing vision
of digital credentials for travellers alignment with the global travel industry and
interest from member states
Engage with international organizations (e.g. ICAO) Assess an organization’s readiness to join the Provide direction to standards bodies (W3C etc.)
to establish seamless travel credential standards ecosystem and implement seamless travel to establish a consensus-driven common set of
and technologies to drive interoperability solutions standards to drive interoperability in the global
travel industry
Develop and implement relevant domestic, legal Adopt an open mindset on the digital travel Engage with government and private-sector
and regulatory foundations that enable the use and process and relevant innovation organizations to provide guidance and education
acceptance of seamless digital travel credentials on current and emerging seamless travel
standards and technologies to minimize market
fragmentation
Provide clear guidance on travel-related policies Identify common inefficiencies across the
and regulations to enable easier adoption of ecosystem on which to collaborate
travel credentials
Open pathways to engage with private-sector Evaluate and engage with other private-sector
organizations to expand travel ecosystems and organizations to join the ecosystem and unlock
leverage innovations for public use additional value and reduce inefficiencies
Promote the use of digital credentials for travellers Share end-user feedback and operational data
with ecosystem partners (e.g. government
partners) for improvements
Embrace and build new technology capability
(e.g. SSI) to support emerging seamless travel
standards and technologies
Be ready for change with the right skills and
training for staff and customers
3.3 Embarking on your collaboration journey
Once the value of collaborating on travel credentials All organizations within the travel credential
and the changes required for the ecosystem roles ecosystem will have unique incentives, challenges
have been outlined, it is vital to understand where and capabilities. As organizations embark on the
you are on your collaboration journey and how you journey towards adopting digital credentials for
can progress. travel, be this through a pilot, participating in an
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 19industry standards forum or working on regulatory – Better understand how their organization’s
requirements, it is important to start the journey with vision and mission can benefit from safe
an organizational vision that is aligned with how the and seamless travel enabled by digital travel
world is evolving towards the introduction of digital credentials
travel credentials. Once a vision is set, organizations
need to develop a thorough understanding – Identify pain points for the traveller and the
of what digital travel credentials will mean to organization that can be addressed through
their organization across a number of different more efficient sharing and management of
aspects; for example: customer experience; staff trusted travel credentials
interactions; technology; operational support;
business interactions with ecosystem partners; – Determine how existing processes may need to
intellectual property; regulatory compliance; and the be adapted
right approach for collaboration across ecosystem
partners. Drawing on the KTDI journey and lessons – Consider whether the existing standards,
learned so far, this playbook poses questions, policies and regulations sufficiently support
considerations and best practices for organizations their organization in realizing the benefits of
to support meaningful, focused collaboration a seamless and secure traveller experience
towards a vision of globally accepted, trusted, by enabling the issuance and acceptance of
verifiable digital travel credentials. trusted digital credentials for travel
The following can be used to help policy-makers – Review their role in the travel ecosystem,
and industry leaders baseline their organization’s acknowledge the other organizations on which
capabilities and goals, as well as better understand processes depend and consider collaboration
how to embark on the journey to use digital opportunities
credentials in travel. This section aims to support
organizations to:
The World Economic Forum recently
published a digital identity ecosystems
guide for executives. It offers a set of
tools to help organizations understand
their ecosystem and the role they play
within it, how to build new ecosystems
or engage existing ones, as well as how
to define and deliver on value.
Click for more information.
The following key questions have been compiled any existing ecosystems they could leverage. After
to enable organizations to understand their addressing these, they will be better placed to
collaboration readiness for digital travel credentials, use the toolkit in Section 4 to help them build your
their role within the travel ecosystem, who their ecosystem for digital travel credentials, enabling
potential partners could be and whether there are people to travel in a seamless and safe manner.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 20TA B L E 1 Travel industry key questions
Questions Example answer/guidance to support
Leveraging digital credentials for travel can realize multiple benefits that
Is your organization ready to engage and collaborate with other
are aligned to my organization’s vision and mission – my organization is
partners in the travel industry to help enable a seamless travel concept?
ready to engage.
People – I have the necessary technical/business resources to interact
with ecosystem partners
Do you have appropriate capability and resources (people, technology Technology – I have infrastructure and existing systems that can
and processes) to support technology enabling digital credentials for support the adoption of digital credentials, e.g. facial recognition
travel? If not, what and who are you missing? readers, QR code scanners, SSI expertise, etc.
Process – I have the necessary support capability to operationalize
digital credentials for travel
Is your organization familiar with digital travel credential concepts and My organization previously conducted a digital credential proof of
technology? concept/pilot for seamless traveller boarding, border crossing, etc.
My current identity-related compliance programmes are complex and
How do you currently manage compliance?
costly, with multiple dependencies on third parties.
How does your organization currently manage fraud related to The risk of identity/credential-related fraud has big implications for my
travellers’ identity and credentials? business – e.g. being fined for improper documentation of travellers.
I am currently considering large digital transformation projects to
What are you doing to improve the user/traveller experience?
improve the traveller experience at the airport.
I am concerned about the amount of traveller data that my organization is
Do you hold vast amounts of traveller data?
currently holding and the potential legal, regulatory and security exposure.
I invest a lot of resources to ensure that my processes dealing with
What are you doing to ensure the security and privacy of your users’
traveller data adhere to industry and regulatory standards to keep
sensitive data?
consumer data safe and ensure privacy (e.g. GDPR).
Governments – e.g. Verify ICAO VDS to allow entry into the country
Does your organization currently process/verify digital travel
credentials? Private sector – e.g. Verify COVID-19 vaccine certificate to provide
service/goods
Governments – e.g. I can verify digital credentials issued only by
Is your organization ready to accept travel credentials if they are issued public-sector organizations
by other countries? If not, what needs to be in place to do so?
Private sector – e.g. I can verify digital credentials issued only in my country
My organization has limited awareness of emerging digital credential
Are you familiar with emerging digital credential standards for travel and standards for travel and their impact on my business and operations.
their impact on your organization? However, we are keen to learn more about them and discuss details
and considerations.
Governments – Improve border-control operations and security
Private sector – Enhance traveller confidence and recovery of industry
What are your current pain points/frustrations from users that could
data compliance
benefit from digital travel credentials?
International organizations – Research common trust framework and
standards to drive global interoperability for digital credential solutions
I would like to pilot digital credentials domestically first before engaging
What is your organization’s risk appetite and criteria when selecting
other governments or international industry players. This would
partners for collaboration (e.g. leisure, international business,
allow me to better understand the benefits of digital credentials in an
education, etc.)?
ecosystem that complies with the same domestic regulations.
As a government entity, we considered working with private-sector
Have you considered a pilot use case for digital credentials? If so, who
organizations to pilot digital credentials for a touchless airport experience
are the ecosystem partners with whom you considered collaborating?
– starting with security and border control and ending with boarding.
My organization is aware of existing digital travel credential
Is there an existing ecosystem that leverages digital travel credentials ecosystems. We have considered joining a regional effort where
that you considered joining? government-issued digital credentials are accepted for international
travel among a group of countries.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 213.4 Opportunities for collaboration to drive
the adoption of digital travel credentials
While fully established cross-border, public-private and, in turn, lead to a lack of adoption and thus a
ecosystems for digital travel credentials do not yet waste of resources for organizations. Travellers in
exist, countries around the world are collaborating the US already use seven or eight apps throughout
and beginning to look at ways in which these their journey and want a more consolidated
systems can be developed. Spain and Germany, for experience.29 Collaboration between organizations
instance, recently signed a cooperation agreement will enable trusted verifiable data to be shared and
to exchange methodologies in digital identity at a verified in advance, so organizations can benefit
technical, regulatory and operational level and set from efficiency gains in relation to time, money and
up a cross-border pilot for a European ecosystem resources. With the influx of digital travel credential
of digital identities. The pilot aims to contribute initiatives that are emerging due to COVID-19,
to the development of an EU-wide digital identity collaboration is critical among interested parties,
ecosystem that is targeting 80% of EU citizens to provide a better travel experience and ultimately
using digital ID by 2030 – for which travel is likely to drive adoption success.
be a key use case.27,28
When considering opportunities for collaboration
Without collaboration, travellers will probably have (and drawing on the responses from Table 1),
to use a whole array of different apps, making their governments, the private sector and international
end-to-end travel journey frustrating and confusing organizations can:
FIGURE 7 Opportunities for collaboration
Determine the type of collaboration on digital credentials in travel that is aligned to
your goals and vision: i.e. 1) operationalize digital travel credentials; or 2) contribute to
the governance, policy and standards development (see Figure 8 for more details)
Identify potential private, public or international organizations and invite them to have a
conversation on collaborating and establishing use cases for safe and seamless travel
Define the requirements for a trust framework on which collaboration efforts would be
based (e.g. a shared set of principles, agreements, technical standards, success
factors and value pools)
If a pilot is considered, discuss ways of working, mission, vision, funding and legal
considerations
Lessons learned from KTDI, outlined in this playbook, can contribute to the
foundational blueprint for collaborations and efforts, both new and already under way.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 22FIGURE 8 Two types of collaboration that enable the development of digital travel credentials30
COLLABORATING TO OPERATIONALIZE COLLABORATING AT THE GOVERNANCE,
THE CONCEPT OF DIGITAL TRAVEL POLICY FRAMEWORK AND
CREDENTIALS TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS LEVEL
Organizations can collaborate to operationalize digital travel credentials, Organizations can collaborate to contribute to the strategic direction
piloting new solutions for safe and seamless travel of digital travel credentials in the travel industry or provide technical
+
thought leadership to help advance technical and data standards
KTDI consortium partners learned many lessons across the technical,
regulatory and operational functions that can be carried forward to Similar efforts may also find KTDI principles, lessons learned and open
other travel-related collaborations and initiatives. Consider the principles specifications helpful in developing the future of digital travel credential
and considerations that provided the basis for the collaboration on KTDI standards and governance to support seamless travel
to facilitate new efforts
Regardless of where an organization currently is in its digital identity journey and which
type of collaboration is best for it, KTDI best practices and lessons learned can help
guide the process of building a sustainable travel ecosystem that benefits from the
adoption of digital travel credentials.
Accelerating the Transition to Digital Credentials for Travel 23You can also read
