Blockchain-Based App to Make Travel During the Pandemic Easier

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• September 16, 2020

Wondering what role blockchain can play in containing the coronavirus pandemic? How can a blockchain-based app make travel easier? This article will answer all these questions. 

 

Table of Contents 

 

• Blockchain and COVID-19 Outbreak
• Blockchain- An Essential Tool During Pandemic 
• ICC AOKpass to Verify COVID-19 Results Instantly
• Conclusion: Blockchain is More Than Bitcoin

 

Blockchain and COVID-19 Outbreak

 

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected countries, communities, and individuals in infinite ways. During this, various advanced technologies have sprung up to deal with the crisis worldwide. One such technology is Blockchain. Blockchain and Covid-19 pandemic may not go together, but it holds potential in putting the pandemic behind us.

Blockchain is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, distributed ledger technology that acts as a tamper-proof public ledger. It is an essential tool for establishing a secure, transparent, and reliable healthcare business model based on complete accuracy. These characteristics assist countries looking into speeding up their ways of responding to the pandemic. 

 

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Blockchain- An Essential Tool During Pandemic 

 

Talking about the challenges associated with COVID-19, tracking a vast population of infectious patients is one of the major issues. There are some areas where Blockchain is used to resist the pandemic effects and aid in the recovery process. Technology can help prevent pandemic by enabling fast-tracking drug trials, early detection of epidemics, and allowing citizens to prove their health status to travel abroad or return to work.

Blockchain, due to its decentralization and increased transparency, results in efficient responses and more accurate reporting. Furthermore, due to its rapid processing of data, technology helps in the early detection of symptoms before they grow to the level of pandemics.

In June 2020, VeChain announced that its blockchain-based medical data management platform had gone live in Cyrus Hospital that will help in storing pandemic testing results. 

 

René Seifert, Co-Head at TrueProfile.io, believes that Blockchain-based immunity passports can be seen as a viable solution in dealing with the deadly coronavirus. The basic idea behind immunity passports is to link the individual’s identity with their Covid-19 test status, which will ensure that person is immune and cannot get contaminated again. 

 

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ICC AOKpass to Verify COVID-19 Results Instantly

 

As governments are trying their best to handle COVID-19 crises in their respective regions, in some parts, they are still hesitant in reopening their borders. In tough times like these, it is crucial to use advanced technologies like Blockchain to solve pressing issues. 

 

According to the recent announcement, International SOS and Singapore-based Energy Drilling have launched a blockchain-based app, ICC AOKpass, to make travel during the pandemic easier by allowing users to verify their COVID-19 status instantly. This easy-to-use mobile app is designed for verifying pandemic results, which further allow individuals to return their workplaces.

 

Dorjee Sun, CEO of blockchain firm Perlin, believes that presently there lacks a common technical standard for digital health passports. He further explained how this new blockchain-based app could be useful for all.
In his words, ICC AOKpass “uses a common global standard that can be deployed and used anywhere in the world today. It can adapt to the rules of any given country and allows users to instantly verify their COVID-19 compliance status anytime, anywhere.” The best part is that several companies have successfully tested the app, including International SOS’ own Singapore-based employees.

 

Juliana Gim, managing director of International SOS Singapore, also expressed his view about how this app can help people in varying their COVID-19 pandemic results and resume their travel.

 

“The successful pilot of ICC AOKpass with Energy Drilling is encouraging as it marks an important step in our journey and the aim of implementing a trusted and standardized global system to facilitate the return to work across many industries. In time, we hope that this will see widespread adoption to facilitate a fast, safe, and secure return to work.”

 

Conclusion: Blockchain is More Than Bitcoin

 

Blockchain has proven to be effective in different use cases, including finance, supply chain, healthcare, digital identity, eCommerce, voting, among others. Its potential to offer transparency, immutability, and decentralization makes it popular to enable faster transactions and handle and protect confidential information. Last month, in August 2020, ShareRing, which is an enterprise-focussed blockchain company, launched an e-passport app with contact tracing to revive the $9 trillion global tourism industry.
Moreover, during the coronavirus pandemic, several blockchain-based firms and crypto startups have started adopting cryptocurrency. The pandemic has even forced people to stay indoors and go for cashless payments. Thus, the contactless payment transaction is becoming a new norm.
From the above discussion, it is clear that blockchain technology holds great potential in various COVID-impacted scenarios, including other major sectors. 

 

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