While the world is trying to adapt to a new way of life during a global pandemic, some are coming forward with solutions to ‘go back to normal’ safely and smartly. The European Commission recently proposed the creation of a Digital Green Certificate, a proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19, received a negative test result or effectively recovered from the virus, aimed at facilitating safe free movement inside the EU during the pandemic.

In this context, companies from the digital, health, tourism and transport industries have been long frontrunning the EU institution's new plan by introducing their own digital passes. Among the first ones available on the market was the ICC AOKpass, developed jointly by the International Chamber of Commerce, International SOS and SGG, which facilitates traveling and mobility by digitally holding an individual’s necessary medical records in a secure and private manner.

ICC AOKpass

International SOS has partnered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and SGS Group to launch the ICC AOKpass mobile app. ICC AOKpass is a digital COVID-19 Compliance Status pass on a mobile phone (or can be a printed QR code) that is built on a user controlled, privacy preserving, blockchain enabled mutual verification system ensuring patient protection and GDPR compatibility. It can hold verified test results, vaccination records or any health certificate.

The pass is designed to enable organizations to verify health credentials for employees, and it is approved by a medical professional and only accessible by the individual employee. Its technology is built to enable individuals to present their health status without ever losing control of their medical information. The medical records are stored only on the individual employee’s device and will not be shared or stored elsewhere. When someone verifies the pass, the technology validates the digital signature of the individual’s pass to ensure authenticity. An individual’s pass is then verified without the need of showing any personal or medical information.

Other similar solutions available:

IATA Travel Pass

The IATA Travel Pass is a standardized solution to validate all country regulations regarding COVID-19 passenger travel requirements. It enables passengers to find information on travel, testing and vaccine requirements for their journey. It allows passengers to create a ‘digital passport’, to verify if their test/vaccination meets the regulations and share the certificates with the proper authorities.

IBM Digital Health Pass

The IBM Digital Health Pass permits organizations to verify health credentials for anyone entering their site, based on criteria specified by the organization. Individuals can manage their information through an encrypted digital wallet on their smartphone, so they control what they share, with whom and for what purpose.

CommonPass

The CommonPass, created by The Commons Project together with The World Economic Forum, lets individuals access their lab results and vaccination records, and consent to have that information used to validate their COVID status without revealing other personal health information.  Lab results and vaccination records can be accessed through existing health data systems, registries or personal digital health records.

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