SITA announced a co-innovation agreement with Indicio, the market leader in open-source verifiable data technology and trusted digital ecosystems, to accelerate the development and deployment of digital identities for travel.

As leading companies in their respective domains, SITA and Indicio are driving innovation in open-source, decentralized identity technologies that enable seamless, secure, and privacy-preserving processes in the airport and throughout the entire journey.

The development of digital identities or Digital Travel Credentials (DTC) enables 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 travelers 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 authenticity and integrity, and ownership can be automatically and repeatedly verified, thereby mitigating the risk of fraud.

The agreement follows a successful collaboration where this technology was trialed with the Government of Aruba. Passengers arriving at Queen Beatrix International Airport applied for their travel authorization using a simplified process that eliminated the need to enter information from paper travel documents manually. Using a DTC, passengers could then consent to share any of their relevant data directly from their digital wallet on their mobile device to multiple entities, from the government at the port of entry to other touchpoints such as hotels or car rental companies.

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, 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.”