Digital vaccination pass comes from Cologne-based startup Ubirch and IBM
No time right now?
Nothing stands in the way of the digital Covid vaccination certificate. A consortium of IBM and the German company Ubirch won the tender. The creation should now go quickly.
IBM and Ubirch are the names of the developers of the digital vaccination certificate for Germany. In an EU-wide tender, they prevailed against Deutsche Telekom, who is developing the Corona warning app with SAP.
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Cologne startup has technology ready
The tech companies Microsoft, Oracle and Salesforce, which are working on a digital vaccination certificate in the Vaccination Credential Initiative (VCI) in the USA and rely on the so-called SMART framework for health cards, are also left out in Germany.
The most likely reason for the award to the IBM consortium is that, in addition to the US tech giant, the German startup Ubirch from Cologne, which is considered an expert in digital certificates, is on board. Ubirch works with a number of municipal data processing centers in Germany when it comes to digital certificates of any kind. And ultimately, the digital vaccination certificate is nothing else. So the technology is already there.
Ubirch vaccination card already in use in two counties
As early as January we reported that the Bavarian District Administrator Erwin Schneider from the CSU wanted to introduce a digital vaccination pass in his Altötting district. That has happened in the meantime. However, citizens first receive an ID in the form of a credit card that contains a printed QR code.
This code can be read out by machine and refers to the vaccination status stored in encrypted form on various blockchains. In February, the ID was also implemented in the Zollernalb district in Baden-Württemberg. Solution provider: Ubirch. The startup, which also manages the corona test results of the test center at Frankfurt Airport, relies on IOTA and Ethereum (with variants).
IBM experienced in the German health sector
Now, together with IBM According to tender “A vaccination certificate app, a test app and a backend for integration in medical practices and vaccination centers” will be developed. In addition to the plastic cards, a smartphone app is also required. Incidentally, one of the requirements of the federal government is that the vaccination status must also be able to be checked offline.
The order has a volume of 2.7 million euros. In addition to Ubirch’s undisputed expertise in the required segment, IBM is also not a blank slate in the German healthcare system. For example, IBM is responsible for the electronic patient file and the order for the electronic prescription went to the former typewriter manufacturer.
Incidentally, within the EU it has been agreed not to rely on a central solution. Instead, there should be an interface definition that ensures that all solutions are compatible with one another.
