Software developer VChain Tech has been announced as the overall winner of the inaugural IATA Global Airport and Passenger Symposium (GAPS) Innovation Awards at a ceremony in Athens, Greece.
As the winner, VChain Tech has been awarded a one-year membership to the IATA Strategic Partnership program, an exclusive industry association dedicated to developing relationships and helping shape technological transformation.
The blockchain-powered VChain platform provides digital verification of a passenger’s identity prior to arriving at the airport. The program’s unique capabilities facilitate ultra-secure validations between different sets of data, which until now, have been impossible to connect.
With an increasing number of passengers, the aviation industry is under pressure to deliver more efficient, accurate and secure processes, while not compromising on the quality of passenger experience.
VChain delivers better passenger data without ever ‘seeing’ or processing the Advanced Passenger Information needed in order to fly. VChain’s Advanced Passenger Information System (APIS) platform is designed to help improve operational efficiency, with fewer queues and happier passengers.
Irra Ariella Khi, CEO and co-founder at VChain Tech, said, “For VChain Tech to be recognized by the association of the world’s airlines in winning the IATA Innovation award is a powerful testament to our growing traction within the aviation industry. Our team is deeply grateful for the acknowledgement of the hard work in bringing VChain’s passenger Identity-as-a-Service to market and becoming an industry standard.
“The positive response we have had from IATA and GAPS to our product has been overwhelming. The airline industry fully recognizes the importance of better passenger data, and how improving it can be the solution to so many follow-on challenges, such as increasing APIS fines, tighter cross-border regulations, and at the same time the challenge of improving security while complying with GDPR,” said Khi.
Nick Careen, senior vice president of airport, passenger, cargo and security, IATA, added, “The IATA GAPS Innovation Awards showcase the innovation happening across the aviation industry. Among many worthy candidates, I congratulate VChain Tech for an outstanding achievement. The only way the industry will be able to meet growing passenger demand over the next two decades will be through adopting new technologies such as blockchain to enhance efficiency.”