WEF’s Digital ID Pilot Project in Travel Has Stalled, Says Transport Canada

A World Economic Forum (WEF) sign is seen at the Davos Congress Centre during the organization’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on May 23, 2022. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) initiative to test the use of digital ID in travel with the collaboration of Canada has been delayed due to the pandemic, says Transport Canada.

Details about the WEF’s project called the Known Traveler Digital Identity (KTDI) were revealed through an Inquiry of Ministry filed by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis in June.

“The gov’t finally admitted that they have a $105.3 million contract with the World Economic Forum for the Known Traveler Digital ID. Take a look at this order paper. It’s no longer a conspiracy theory - it’s a contractual fact!” tweeted Lewis on Oct. 5, providing a link to the Inquiry.

Canada’s involvement in the pilot project is documented in official statements since it was announced in 2018, and the dollar figure associated to it is listed in Budget 2021.

Lewis said during her campaign for party leadership this summer that she would remove Canada from the project if elected prime minister.

The Netherlands is the other country taking part in the WEF initiative. Other participants include Montreal Trudeau and Toronto Pearson airports, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Air Canada, Royal Dutch Airlines, and IT and services firm Accenture.

Implementing broader digital ID systems in society is a stated “urgent” WEF objective.

“With people, organizations and internet-enabled devices all interacting with one another virtually, we urgently require solutions that enable us to establish trust between ourselves and other people in the digital sphere, as well as carry out interactions that feel meaningful,” says the WEF digital ID guide for executives.

The federal and provincial governments in Canada are working on putting respective programs in place.

The WEF paper on KTDI published in 2021 says that Canadians are “demanding” a centralization of ID management in Canada.

“A digital identification infrastructure in Canada and other similar countries could benefit from a collaborative public-private approach, enabling interoperability with different systems in the travel ecosystem to facilitate seamless interactions for the traveller, e.g. at the airport to pass through security, board the plane and cross borders through to car rental and checking into the hotel,” says the paper.

The WEF also says the KTDI could be expanded to include information such as vaccination certificates.

“The need for trusted digital travel credentials as a result of COVID-19 is paramount and clearly, from the different solutions that have emerged, the pandemic has served as a burning platform urging stakeholders to get the design of trusted digital credentials for travel right.”

Implementation Delays

Transport Canada says in the Inquiry of Ministry that the project has not been launched and suffered implementation delays because of the pandemic and that there is no identified launch date.

The Financial Post reported on Oct. 5 that the Netherlands has paused the project due to “changed priorities” and quoted Dutch Migration Minister Eric van der Burg saying “There are currently no concrete plans to implement the KTDI pilot.”

Transport Canada says the program by design would allow travellers to opt in and out.

The department did not say what type of collected data was shared and which governments and third parties received it, saying that information is not available.

“However, proposed information to be shared will include elements derived from the ePassport used for the pilot,” says Transport Canada.

The ePassport is a biometric passport with an electronic chip encoded with the holder’s biodata and his digital picture.

Transport said information on which KTDI technologies the government is testing is not available.

“However, prior to the deferral of the pilot, the proposed technologies to be used included: distributed ledger technology; biometric technology; and cryptography.”

The WEF KTDI paper says the Canadian government did test a technology: “The Government of Canada, in collaboration with Accenture, completed the testing of an interdepartmental government blockchain-based digital identity management platform in a simulated environment.”

It also says “All partners are proud of the joint effort to develop the KTDI mobile application,” which presumably involved testing.

The Epoch Times reached out to the WEF for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.