The I-ID - An IT Solution to Supplement Conventional Identification Cards: The Air Transportation Systems Use Case

The documentation of births has been started in ancient human civilizations. Today, each person holds many cards and documents such as ID, passport, driving license etc. The loss of one of these documents causes a great amount of work for the affected person and for many governmental and non-governmental offices. Starting the middle of the last century, mobility of people has increased dramatically. Trains, cars, airplanes and other methods of transportation facilitated movements of people around the world. Many hundred thousands persons are crossing the borders every minute. The necessity of tracking this movement and identifying people entering or leaving a country is essential, especially for security reasons. Therefore, authorities provide identified passports to be used, helping other authorities to recognize who is entering their territory. The I-ID is a global idea to supplement conventional identification cards (personal ID, health insurance cards, driving licenses, passports, etc.) with an IT based integrated solution where no need for paper documents. In this paper, after proposing the I-ID concept, and its technical feasibility, an IT solution to supplement conventional passports will be provided and investigated as a use case.