JAKARTA - Finland could become the first country in the European Union to pilot a mobile app with digital copies of travel documents, aka digital passports.
Finland has expressed a desire to test a phone app that will store digital copies of travel documents instead of traditional paper passports. With this new technology, passengers can submit information to border authorities before they go overseas.
According to a report in the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the European Commission contacted late last year to ask if the country was willing to participate in the pilot project.
"Currently we are preparing a funding application for the KPU. The application must be submitted by the end of August. After that, it will be decided whether the project will be realized or not," Mikko Visänen, an inspector of the Finnish Border Guard told the newspaper. .
It is known that the European Commission is encouraging several member states to test digital travel documents. With the information gathered from this test, it could introduce the ability to cross borders with just a mobile app across the European Union.
While it remains uncertain whether the Finnish trials will continue, the first digital documentation could be tested on flights to Croatia.
Some passengers will be asked voluntarily to download the app on their mobile phones. They can then send their documentation to the border authorities before they travel.
"Information is checked first and deleted after the trip," explains Väisänen.
The first volunteers are likely to be passengers traveling between Finland and Croatia, as early as the spring of 2023.
Could a digital passport be the answer to recent airport delays? For now, passengers involved in the trial will still have to bring their physical paper passports and undergo screening by border agents.
But in the long run, the goal is that people don't need to carry any documentation other than cell phones. Travelers can be easily identified using facial photographs, when they board a plane or pass security checks.
It is hoped that this digital travel document will make crossing the border smoother and faster. Reducing the time of each individual check, even a small amount can reduce passenger waiting times.
If nothing changes, Ukraine will become the first country in the world to grant digital passports the same legal status as physical ones.
Using a phone application called Dila issued by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, users can view electronic versions of their documents. They can also generate QR codes which have basically the same power as passports.
Ukrainians have been able to use their digital passports in a variety of situations such as confirming their identity at the post office, confirming their age or opening a bank account for several years. But last year, they were also recognized when traveling to the country by plane or train.
While Poland and South Korea are also using digital documentation on smartphones in a similar way, further pilot projects could soon be carried out in the UK and the US.
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