MS and Oracle to Lead Development of Vaccine Passport Technical Standards

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Information technology (IT) companies such as Microsoft (MS), Oracle, and Salesforce are embarking on the development of COVID-19 vaccine passport technology.

According to CNBC on the 14th (local time), this project called the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. These three companies are collaborating with the Geneva-based nonprofit organization Commons Project, the U.S. medical nonprofit Mayo Clinic, Safe Health, Change Healthcare, and the nonprofit security research organization MITRE Corporation to promote the development of vaccine passport technology.

Salesforce stated, "We want to customize every aspect of the vaccine management lifecycle to help us return to public life."

As COVID-19 vaccinations begin worldwide, the introduction of vaccine passports is imminent. The United Kingdom is piloting vaccine passports by issuing mobile app-based vaccine passports to thousands of people from this month through March. In Israel, a "Green Passport" proving that a person has received both doses of the vaccine will be issued this month. In the United States, IBM has independently developed a "Digital Health Pass" app, and related app development is also underway in Switzerland.

Amid this, the core of the technology implemented by VCI is to establish related technical standards so that vaccine passports can be widely used. A vaccine passport is a kind of "digital certificate" proving that one has been vaccinated against COVID-19, and when commercialized, it is expected to be issued in the form of a smartphone application (app). VCI plans to implement technology that stores encrypted digital copies in digital wallets such as Google Pay. For users without smartphones, vaccination records can be printed on paper in QR code format and presented.

Accordingly, if VCI's technology is commercialized, it can be widely used not only for boarding airplanes but also for commuting to work, attending school, and participating in events.

The Commons Project said, "The core of VCI is open standards and interoperability," adding, "We hope to adopt global technical standards for health data."

However, some concerns have been raised that governments might use smartphones to monitor individuals under the pretext of tracking vaccinated people.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.