Doctor sitting at desk looking at cell phone.

The combination of COVID 19 testing and vaccinations has created a challenge for the travel industry. There are particular concerns about international travel restrictions. The development of digital health passports on your smartphone is a potential solution.

The International Air Transport Association will soon roll out blockchain-based passports that digitally store an individual’s health information — specifically, their COVID-19 testing and vaccination status.

In a move that IATA says has the potential to reopen international travel and loosen current global quarantine restrictions, a “health” passport will be stored in a user’s smartphone in the form of an app, with the first real-world testing expected to take place as soon as February.

Known as the IATA Travel Pass and described as a way to give travelers complete control over their own data, the app would reportedly also act as a two-way communication tool that broadcasts information to relevant governments, vaccination centers and airlines.

Four major airlines have signed up for the program thus far. Singapore Airlines and British Airways plan to begin the first phase of testing in February, while Etihad and Emirates currently forecast an April launch date.

Alan Murray Hayden — head of airport, passenger and security products at IATA — praised the use of “powerful” blockchain technology in the scheme, adding that it was one of the few implementations of the technology to date that has a clear beneficial effect:

The Travel Pass will feature four main interactive components: the digital passport module; a Lab app, which allows data to be sent securely via testing labs and the app itself; a global registry of vaccination centers; and a global registry of up-to-date health requirements demanded by international travelers at any given time.

There are numerous other tech developers in the U.S. and the U.K. who are also creating digital healthcare travel apps for your smartphone. The tech community appears to have agreed that this approach is a solution for domestic and international travel.