DUTCH-CANADA BIOMETRIC INITIATIVE ALLOWS PAPERLESS BORDER CLEARANCE

Vision-Box and partners have today signed an agreement to officially launch the 'Known Traveler Digital Identity' service, which will facilitate paperless border clearance between Canada and The Netherlands.

The programme will allow travellers flying between the two countries to enjoy a seamless journey, whereby a simple face scan will be enough to identify the passengers boarding a plane at departure, and to clear immigration on arrival. 

They won’t need to show their travel documents or go through any further checks.

Partners of the initiative are The World Economic Forum and the Governments of Canada and The Netherlands, in collaboration with implementing partners Air Canada, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Amsterdam Schiphol, Toronto Pearson and Montréal-Trudeau airports, and technology partners Accenture and Vision-Box.

Vision-Box notes that The Known Traveler Digital Identity is a unique example of enhanced inter-governmental and public-private cooperation, motivated by the priority of a seamless traveller experience, realised under a unique interoperable framework of digital identity. 

By connecting the departure with the arrival of a passenger, the journey is substantially streamlined, avoiding repeated tasks, improving the safety of citizens and optimising operations.

“This is an important step in the usage of leading-edge technologies at the service of the cross-border movement of people," says Vision-Box CEO Miguel Leitmann.

"The Known Traveler Digital Identity is a key initiative in the domain of Identity Digitization, beacon of modern travel. 

"It will contribute to the establishment of standards for global interoperability and privacy-preserving identity management models that will bring significant opportunities for the aviation, travel and tourism industries. 

"This is another key milestone of the delivery of the One iD framework, where our technology and orchestration platform contribute to the concrete expression of modern travel."