Coronavirus: IBM Launching Blockchain ‘Health Pass’ to Support Return to Public Spaces
Coronavirus: IBM Launching Blockchain ‘Health Pass’ to Support Return to Public Spaces
An IBM division is launching a blockchain-based health verification system designed to help individuals safely return to shared physical spaces like work, school, flights or stadiums.
- IBM Watson Health, a data, analytics and technology company working within the health industry, announced Monday its Digital Health Pass would allow organizations to establish their own criteria for COVID-19 health verification.
- These include test results and temperature scans that can be generated for an individual’s pass, and recorded and shared using the IBM Blockchain network.
- Organizations are seeking solutions to aid the return to public spaces, according to general manager of IBM Watson Health Paul Roma, yet they also need to protect users’ privacy.
- The digital pass will use “sophisticated cryptographic techniques” in order to verify individuals’ health statuses while ensuring the underlying data does not become public, the company said.
- Users can manage their information through an encrypted smartphone wallet app, according to the project’s website.
- They can load health results, like COVID-19 tests, by scanning a QR code into the app, which can then be viewed by parties with access to the user’s data.
