We are far enough along in our learning about SARS-CoV-2 to carefully establish a new COVID-19 pandemic normal and begin allowing people to travel again. There is no such thing as zero risk but by working together we can reduce the risk of international and domestic travel to acceptable levels for many people and countries. The Commons Project has partnered with the World Economic Forum to build and launch CommonPass and the Common Trust Framework to help get the world moving again.

Getting the world moving again requires being able to trust COVID-19 laboratory testing results and COVID-19 vaccination status (when available) information from other countries. The UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has established and implemented additional engineering, administrative, and personal protective equipment guidelines to further minimize transmission risk. We have the global standards and technologies we need to exchange health status information in secure and privacy-preserving ways. We have worked with volunteers in testing CommonPass in collaboration with medical laboratories and major airlines in Asia between Hong Kong and Singapore, and on a transatlantic route from London to New York City. We expect CommonPass to be fully operational with early adopting stakeholders early in 2021.

The Common Trust Framework is designed to give governments the ability to flexibly publish their country and other travel rules to evolve with the pandemic and science. If governments are able to trust health status information originating in other countries they may be able to use more nuanced policies than closing borders and mandatory quarantine for arriving passengers. We think the time is right to get the world moving again. The Commons Project and the World Economic Forum thank the volunteers who are testing CommonPass, and the representatives and partners from more than 50 countries, medical laboratories and health facilities, and most of the world’s major airlines, many major airports and other travel industry stakeholders who have contributed to the design and testing of CommonPass.

—Paul Meyer
Chief Executive Officer, The Commons Project