The modern passport was first introduced in 1915 during World War I, and it is still in use today, notes Jonathan Samuels, a journalist for Sky News. However, modern biometric technologies have made the paper document obsolete for several years. The barriers to adoption are not technological, but rather due to a lack of coordination, governance, and the maintenance of traditional processes.
According to Paul Griffiths, the CEO of Dubai Airport, many airports around the world still cling to traditional processes, and the travel experience needs to be rethought, similar to what Amazon, Uber, and eBay have done in their respective sectors. Recent use cases have shown that biometric technologies can operate effectively in real-world conditions.
The Dubai airport has demonstrated that it is possible to eliminate the use of physical passports and allow travelers to reach the boarding gate without stopping. In the United States, the facial recognition procedure has validated the entry of over one billion travelers since 2016 without requiring interaction with a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent.
The cruise industry has also been proactive in adopting biometric technologies to address specific issues, with thousands of travelers visiting multiple countries in a short period. Nikos Mertzanidis, executive director of CLIA in Europe, notes that a cruise is an excellent test case for authorities, as passenger information is transmitted earlier, allowing for advance checks and authorizations.
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The difficulty in fully investing in biometric solutions in air travel is attributed to the siloed approach, where the best solutions work independently, forcing travelers to continuously re-register their identity at each stage. Participants in the discussion also note a strong attachment to traditional vertical processes, which is difficult to separate from the lack of public-private coordination.
Andrea Alori, a partner at Bain, states that the problem lies in the governance, coordination, and interoperability of different systems. Technology can help, but it is also the willingness of stakeholders, both public and private, and the strength and engagement of the private sector that can drive this change.
To address these challenges, participants call for simplifying the technical architecture, reassuring privacy, and adopting a unified standard. Paul Griffiths notes that if people can trust banks with their money, they should be able to trust travel professionals with their identity verification.
The way forward involves acquiring the trust of travelers by being transparent, similar to the U.S. authorities, which have guaranteed that border control data will not be commercialized. By adopting a unified standard, such as the IBAN system used for international money transfers, it is possible to share a simple token to verify identity, making the travel experience more efficient and secure.