With testing proven to be the safest and most effective way to gather information on the spread of Covid-19 case rate, developing a system that verifies the results of an individual’s PCR or lateral flow tests quickly became a priority for governments and technology developers alike. In an ideal world, digital health passports would provide a way of securely sharing Covid-19 test results, vaccination certifications and immunity status in order to deem a person as being at low risk of catching or spreading the virus.
However, this idealised view must currently contend with challenges such as accessing accurate information on test requirements, travel restrictions and testing centres, infrastructure that allows airlines and government authorities to implement digital health passports, verifying the accuracy and authenticity of test results and public opinion towards vaccination and digital health apps.
Despite these challenges, development of digital health passports and supporting technology continues at pace. In fact, if you were to search for 'digital health passports' right now, you would probably find news of yet another tech firm releasing their version of a health passport.
Add to this that an increasing number of airlines and airports are trialling the technology (at the time of writing Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Qatar and Tokyo airport have conducted trials, with Virgin Atlantic about to launch trials of two apps), it’s time to take a balanced look at digital health passports, the technology behind them and how travel managers can prepare for their use.