Verifiable digital credentials and digital wallets were central to the discussion at the recent Phocuswright Europe conference in Barcelona, bringing together experts in the biometric and digital identity fields to explore how digital identity and decentralized self-sovereign identity (SSI) are transforming the global travel industry.
Across the event, various panels will feature executives from organisations including Indicio, Amadeus, the EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium, Neoke, Travlr ID and organisers PhocusWire addressing some of the key challenges, opportunities and technologies driving fundamental change in the way we travel, and speculate on what the travel experience will look like in 2035.
A paradigm shift puts travelers in control of their own data
Annette Steenburgen, advisor to the EUDI Wallet Consortium, called the current trend towards digitization and digital IDs a “paradigm shift in how we transact online,” saying it “provides a layer of identity that has been missing in the digital world.”
“And travelers are taking the lead. Usually you have to give a ton of data and then you get something in return. This time travelers are in control of the data they share. This is a very different way of connecting with companies, so the trust element has great potential.”
Experts predict that by 2035, digital wallets will be ubiquitous, search and shopping functions will be personalized, bookings will be linked to travellers’ digital travel credentials, and airports will be completely contactless with the widespread adoption of biometric authentication.
François Blanc, managing director of Traveler ID at Amadeus, offers a novel metaphor for how biometric IDs will improve the travel experience: “A lot of people say that digital IDs are the cookie of the future. It’s a very respectful cookie because travelers decide to share it with travel providers to get a benefit. And when travelers do, they accept it for a tangible benefit, so it becomes a very respectful way of tracking travelers throughout their trip.”
It’s one of the more advanced iterations of the great 21st century trade-off: exchanging data for profits. It’s not a hard sell, given that the mere thought of endless airport lines makes some people uneasy.
Paradise gets even better with Indigo and SITA’s Alba: CEO
Indicio CEO Heather Dahl gives a compelling explanation for the Pre-Check system that Indicio and SITA have deployed at Queen Beatrix Airport in Oranjestad, Aruba: The system allows travellers to create digital travel credentials from their passport, pre-populating the necessary embarkation and disembarkation cards, and sharing only the relevant information needed to legally enter the country.
Dahl said the system “is working better than we could have ever imagined. It’s incredible how fast it is.”
“At the end of the day, will travelers even know they’re using SSI? Probably not, and that’s OK. We want travelers to think, ‘Wow, I never thought I’d be through that checkpoint so quickly,’ or ‘I never thought I’d have to wait in line,’ or ‘I never thought I’d be off the plane and sitting on the beach in 30 minutes.’ And I think that’s the experience that travelers and customers get at the end of the day.”
Startup unveils digital identity infrastructure for travel
The two companies, which attended the conference, were named by PhocusWire as one of 25 travel startups to watch in 2024. Travlr ID CEO Ji Man describes his company’s product as a decentralized travel ID infrastructure. He believes travel IDs are “broken” in that they require repeated verifications, costs of which are ultimately passed on to customers, and they also lack interoperability.
The Travlr ID solution is a “decentralized network of digital identities powered by a privacy-focused blockchain that powers AI agents,” which Gee acknowledges is “a pretty long phrase.” In other words, it means “you own your identity forever, you can get rewarded for sharing your data, you can manage all your profiles in one place, you can leverage cross-border sharing, and you have permission-based AI agents.” By offering these features, Travlr ID aims to create an end-to-end credential management tool that travelers can customize for their use before, during, and after their trip.
Neoke CEO Vikas Bhola called the potential use cases for digital IDs and wallets “extremely broad” and said consumers will embrace digital IDs once they see the benefits. “There’s so much that digital ID can solve. The key is how do you get started, where is the infrastructure, how can businesses prepare, and how do you deploy it at scale? It’s about building an infrastructure that’s easy to integrate, but that’s built on standards that truly deliver the interoperability that we all dream of.”
You can watch the full panel “Digital Identity is (Nearly) Here,” the executive interview “Digital Identity in Action,” and our Five Minutes of Fame session with Travlr ID on YouTube.
Article Topics
Amadeus | Biometrics | Digital ID Infrastructure | Digital Travel Credentials | Digital Wallets | EU Digital Identity Wallets Consortium (EWC) | Indicio | Neoke | Self-Sovereign ID | SITA | Travlr ID
