If you want to travel next year, you may need a vaccine passport

Now that coronavirus vaccines are starting to roll out in the US and abroad, many people may be dreaming of the day when they can travel, shop and go to the movies again. But in order to do those activities, you may eventually need something in addition to the vaccine: a vaccine passport application.

Several companies and technology groups have begun developing smartphone apps or systems for individuals to upload details of their Covid-19 tests and vaccinations, creating digital credentials that could be shown in order to enter concert venues, stadiums, movie theaters, offices, or even countries. The Common Trust Network, an initiative by Geneva-based nonprofit The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum, has partnered with several airlines including Cathay Pacific, JetBlue, Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, as well as hundreds of health systems across the United States and the government of Aruba. The CommonPass app created by the group allows users to upload medical data such as a Covid-19 test result or, eventually, a proof of vaccination by a hospital or medical professional, generating a health certificate or pass in the form of a QR code that can be shown to authorities without revealing sensitive information. For travel, the app lists health pass requirements at the points of departure and arrival based on your itinerary. "You can be tested every time you cross a border. You cannot be vaccinated every time you cross a border," Thomas Crampton, chief marketing and communications officer for The Commons Project, told CNN Business. He stressed the need for a simple and easily transferable set of credentials, or a "digital yellow card," referring to the paper document generally issued as proof of vaccination.

Run by one of Bill Clinton’s former speechwriters, with Rockefeller funding:

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200708005316/en/The-Commons-Project-Establishes-Global-Board-of-Trustees

he Commons Project was established with support from The Rockefeller Foundation to build digital platforms and services for the common good. Its first service is CommonHealth, the privacy-preserving Android app for people to collect, store and share their personal health information securely.

“We believe that everyone should enjoy the full benefit of technology and data while maintaining control over their digital lives,” said Paul Meyer, CEO of The Commons Project. “We have established a new kind of entity—a public trust—to meet the needs of our times, building and operating the shared platforms and services that neither governments nor tech companies are well positioned to create.”

The Commons Project is also collaborating with the World Economic Forum and a broad coalition of public and private partners to launch CommonPass, a standard global framework enabling people to document and present their COVID-19 status to facilitate international travel and border crossing while protecting individual data privacy.

The Global Trustees include:

Rajiv Shah, MD, President, The Rockefeller Foundation (U.S.)
Ángel Cabrera, PhD, President, Georgia Institute of Technology (Spain)
James Kondo, Chairman, International House of Japan
Julie Gerberding, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer, Merck and former Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
Leslie Maasdorp, Chief Financial Officer, New Development Bank (South Africa)
Ninie Wang, DrPH, Founder and CEO, Pinetree Care Group (China)
Aneesh Chopra, President, CareJourney and former U.S. Chief Technology Officer
Arturo Condo, President, EARTH University (Costa Rica)
Muna AbuSulayman, Partner, Arabic Digital Reform Institute (Saudi Arabia)
Jaime de Bourbon de Parme, Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Netherlands)
“In times of uncertainty, like the one we are living through brought by the global pandemic, new systems and institutions emerge,” said Tim Brown, Executive Chair of IDEO and a Global Trustee. “The Commons Project is one such institution, now delivering on its mission by building digital tools for public good in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“The Commons Project is working closely with the East African Community as they prepare for reopening land, sea and air border crossings. In recognition of the global nature of travel, the EAC is prepared to take the lead in adopting a harmonized standard for travelers to present their COVID-19 status,” said Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Global Trustee and former Minister of Information & Communications Technology, Rwanda. “The mission of The Commons Project is perfectly suited for this moment – to help lead the world in re-starting economies through safe data sharing that respects individual privacy.”

https://bluestarfam.org/team/paul-meyer/

Paul Meyer is co-founder and CEO of The Commons Project, a nonprofit public trust, established with support from The Rockefeller Foundation to build digital services that put people first.

Paul began his career doing advance work on Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign. After the election, he joined the White House staff, becoming one of President Clinton’s speechwriters.

He left the White House to attend Yale Law School. After graduating, he became the first Chief Operating Officer of Endeavor, a non-profit supporting entrepreneurs around the world. He then joined the International Rescue Committee, leading projects to use technology to reunify refugees in the Sierra Leone and Kosovo wars.

When the Kosovo war ended, Paul co-founded IPKO which began as a wireless Internet provider serving the UN and humanitarian agencies and grew to become Kosovo’s leading telecom, internet and cable TV company. He also co-founded the IPKO Foundation which has provided free technology education to a generation of Kosovar students. He then became a Senior Fellow at the Markle Foundation.

In 2001, he co-founded and served as CEO of Voxiva. Voxiva developed and deployed mobile health services across 17 countries in North and South America, Africa and Asia, including the first nationwide digital disease surveillance systems in Peru and Rwanda.

In 2010 at Voxiva, he built a coalition of over 1,500 partners to launch Text4baby, a free health information service with proven clinical outcomes that has supported over 1.5 million pregnant women and new moms. Text4baby is now featured in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian.

In 2011, Fast Company Magazine named Voxiva one of the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.

In 2016, Paul merged Voxiva with Sense Health to form Wellpass and served as Wellpass CEO. Wellpass’ health messaging services were deployed with over 70 Medicaid health plans, 30 health systems, and 10 state health agencies, providing health support to over 3 million people and demonstrating significant clinical outcomes in extensive published research. In 2018, Wellpass was acquired by Welltok.

In 2019, he co-founded The Commons Project.

Paul has a law degree from Yale, a BA from Pomona College and studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He was named a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. MIT’s Technology Review Magazine named him a Technology Pioneer and their 2003 Humanitarian of the Year.

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