IT company’s Covid-19 passport app to be ready in May
4 April 2021, 13:54
A Whitehall source said Netcompany is ‘helping with the technical architecture of a possible app’.
The IT company helping the UK Government with a possible Covid-19 passport app has said its technology is “an efficient, secure and scalable solution” that will support the safe reopening of society.
Netcompany has already confirmed its digital Corona passport app will be used in Denmark and is expected to be ready in May.
The UK Government is working on the development of a “Covid status certification” scheme, the so-called vaccine passport, and a Whitehall source said Netcompany is “helping with the technical architecture of a possible app”.
Netcompany was awarded a year-long contract in November worth £3,107,200 for “Alpha, Beta and Live Support services to NHS Test and Trace”, according to the Government website.
The firm’s website says: “Netcompany’s digital Corona passport is an efficient, secure and scalable solution that supports a safe reopening of societies and businesses, granting citizens access to the workplace, business – and holiday travels, healthcare institutions and cultural institutions.
“In addition, the solution can support a more responsible return of private gatherings, weddings etc.”
The company says the solution is built on technology that prevents forgery and is ready-made to be adapted to ongoing developments, such as mutations and new test solutions.
“This ensures that organisers and citizens can feel safe, while society gradually reopens, and venues and cultural events can remain open, without experiencing long queues, as the app works offline as well, and checks can be made in less than one second,” the company says.
The app is said to be user-friendly and simple for both citizens and organisers to use, and the protection of user privacy is “central to the solution” with all data stored on the user’s phone.
Announcing that Netcompany would deliver the Danish corona passport app last month, CEO Andre Rogaczewski said it will be “a vital tool in accelerating the return to a more normal everyday life in Denmark where we can cross borders more easily and reopen society, based on testing, vaccination and immunity”.
Videos on the Netcompany website show what the app looks like and how people will use it, with one of the videos featuring the fictitious Larsen family using the app in a number of scenarios.
A Government spokeswoman said: “The video on Netcompany’s website states that all scenarios are fictitious and not indicative of how a certification system might work in the UK.
“No final decisions have been made on how a certification system might work in practice. Any such system that we use will take into account three factors: vaccination, a negative test and natural immunity.
“The review is considering a range of issues, including the ethical, equalities, privacy, legal and operational aspects and what limits, if any, should be placed on organisations using certification.”
