TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
Incode Technologies Inc | November 10, 2022
Incode Technologies Inc., the next-generation identity verification and authentication platform for global enterprises, announced a strategic partnership with Hoteza, the smart hotel communication systems provider. Through this partnership, guests can now start their check-in journey before arriving at their hotel destination through Incode's biometric verification process. Guests experience a seamless Self-Check-In process on the Hoteza Guest Journey Platform, Hoteza's cloud-based content management system, using Incode's fully integrated and secure optical character recognition and its facial recognition technology, FaceMatch.
More than 500 hotels around the globe in the Hoteza portfolio, including Kempinski, Hilton and Radisson, will now have the opportunity to join this user-friendly solution allowing guests to skip lines and check-in before arrival via email or other communication channels. The streamlined process grants staff time to spend their resources on other activities, allowing them to fully commit to their role of hosts.
"We were looking for the best and the most secure partner to work with on our Self-Check-In solution, and we are thrilled to partner with Incode," says Nikolay Beloshitsky, Hoteza CEO. "We are glad to have found an efficient and dedicated partner in the hospitality industry with a growth mindset to match our own."
Hoteza is an interactive, guest-facing platform for entertainment, information and communication controlled from one Cloud-based content management system. Hoteza offers Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) solutions, mobile & in-room tablet apps, Digital Signage and high-speed Internet Access. Now, with Incode's facial recognition, guests experience modern Check-In solutions, successfully offering modern guest experiences.
"We are always looking for ways to elevate customer experiences through our technology, We are excited for guests using Hoteza to experience quick and secure check-in and overall, a smooth experience."
-Ricardo Amper, CEO of Incode
Incode's state-of-the-art contactless check-in and check-out guest experiences, service multiple dimensions of the hospitality industry including hotels and resorts. Their technology in ID capture, liveness detection, face match, passport validation and credit card enrollment produce elevated guest experiences.
Incode's new partnership with Hoteza is the latest in a host of strategic growth and momentum initiatives. In October 2022, Incode partnered with Sardine to deliver user verification to prevent fraudulent financial activities. The company also recently announced Incode Workflow, an advanced functionality to help businesses tailor consumer experiences based on risk level.
To learn more about Incode, visit www.incode.com.
About Incode
Incode is the leading provider of world-class identity solutions that is reinventing the way humans authenticate and verify their identity to power a world of digital trust. Incode's innovative identity solutions enable the world's largest financial institutions, governments, retailers, hospitality companies, gaming, and other industries to unleash their business potential and reduce fraud, elevating human interactions with data, products, and services – at all levels.
About Hoteza
Hoteza is an interactive, guest-facing solution for entertainment, information and communication set on various platforms controlled from one CMS. It includes IPTV solution, mobile & web apps, in-room tablet app, online check-in solution, Digital Signage and High Speed Internet Access
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY,DESTINATION AND TOURISM
Space Perspective | November 16, 2022
Space Perspective unveiled MS Voyager – the world’s first Marine Spaceport for human spaceflight, and the first in a planned fleet of this new class of spaceports globally. Spaceports are sites for launching and receiving spacecraft. Now with the capacity to launch from marine-based sites around the world, in addition to launching from land on Florida’s Space Coast, Space Perspective becomes the first global space travel experience company, offering safe and sustainable journeys to the edge of space from where Explorers live and play.The name Voyager is an homage to the Voyager 1 Space Probe mission which, on astronomer Carl Sagan’s request, took a photo of Earth from across the solar system on February 14th, 1990. That photo, now known iconically as the Pale Blue Dot, inspired Sagan’s book of the same name and his call for humans to “preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known” – words that reverberate through Space Perspective’s mission today.
“Space Perspective will change your relationship with our planet by providing the quintessential astronaut experience of viewing Earth from the blackness of space, It’s imperative for us to think about our business with a global mindset. Removing geographic borders for launch and landing accelerates our mission of making this transformative experience more accessible to the world and international marketplace – safely, reliably and with minimal impact on our planet.”
-Jane Poynter, Space Perspective’s Founder and Co-CEO
Plans are underway to integrate marine-based launches into marquee global events, and conversations are active with several potential destinations across the globe to offer Explorers an awe-inspiring view of some of the world’s most iconic geography.
We always imagined offering the opportunity to view the most incredible natural phenomena from space, including the Northern Lights, the boot of Italy, the sheer scale of the Nile Delta, and the deep blue seas around the Bahamas. Marine Spaceports like MS Voyager make this a reality, said Poynter.
MS Voyager and future Space Perspective Marine Spaceports give the company the operational flexibility needed to grow its business more quickly to reach a supply-constrained global market for commercial space travel that analysts recently estimated could reach over $8 billion by 2030[1]. Marine Spaceports create ideal launch conditions in two ways: by navigating to areas of good weather, which allows for year-round operations within a region, and by moving with the sea breeze, so there is virtually no wind across the deck. This enables more frequent launch opportunities, as well as more options for the time of day, including sunrise and sunset nighttime stargazing flights for Explorers.
“This is another important milestone and a proud moment for the Space Perspective crew both in terms of pioneering engineering and the ability to scale our offer quickly, globally. We are grateful to our extended crew of dynamic, best-in-class operational partners,”
-Space Perspective’s Founder, Co-CEO and CTO Taber MacCallum.
Acquired from one of the world’s premier shipbuilders, Edison Chouest Offshore, MS Voyager’s marine operations will be supported by Guice Offshore. The 292-foot-long vessel, which will call Port Canaveral its home, is now being outfitted for launch, retrieval, and SpaceBalloon™ operations at Conrad Shipyard -- preparations for which were provided by Gulf Ship. In keeping with Space Perspective’s environmentally conscious ethos, offsets will be provided by Cool Effects, and the vessel itself is being retrofitted to use biofuel to reduce its carbon footprint.
When it’s time to come back to Earth at the end of the journey in Spaceship Neptune’s pressurized capsule, a patent-pending splash-cone at its base provides a smooth and gentle water landing. Fast boats from Fluid Watercraft will then arrive to stabilize the capsule, which will be lifted onto the Marine Spaceport by a custom-built A-frame provided by Supreme Integrated Technologies. Communications throughout the operation – between land, sea, and capsule – will be provided by Silvus Technologies, utilizing military-grade StreamCaster MANET radios and MN-MIMO waveform technology.
We've always believed in Space Perspective's mission and the experience they are bringing to the world through human spaceflight. Unlocking the ability to scale globally with the addition of Marine Spaceports only strengthens the proposition and the power of the company to change people's lives and the future of our planet, said Brandon Ross, General Partner of LightShed Ventures, a major Space Perspective investor.
MS Voyager will begin operations in the New Year, aligned to Space Perspective’s planned test flights that commence in early 2023. Space Perspective has sold over 1,000 tickets to date. Tickets are available to reserve now at their current price of $125,000 at SpacePerspective.com.
For more information, visit SpacePerspective.com. Follow Space Perspective for updates on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. Experience the capsule interior here.
About Space Perspective
Space Perspective is the world’s only carbon-neutral luxury spaceflight experience company. It invites more people than has historically been possible to experience a thrillingly new and visceral perspective that expands the human consciousness – the incredibly exhilarating panoramas and scale of Earth in space. The Observer cited Space Perspective as "the best suborbital space tourism offering in the world." Setting a new bar in out-of-this-world thrilling experiences, as soon as late 2024 Space Perspective plans to take Space Explorers to space inside Spaceship Neptune’s pressurized capsule propelled by a high-performance SpaceBalloonTM without using rocket fuel or high G forces. Space Explorers see the world anew through its vast windows, 450 miles in any direction. The ultra-comfortable, accessible, and gentle six-hour journey redefines space travel. Space Perspective is led by industry luminaries Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum and their unique-in-the-world expert crew who have been integral to all human SpaceBalloonTM flights, and marine launches over the last 50 years. Building on that experience, the Space Perspective crew has innovated and patented the safest spaceflight experience in the world. Poynter and MacCallum have been dubbed ‘Masters of the stratosphere’ by Bloomberg Businessweek. MacCallum also served as Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
Entrust | September 07, 2022
Entrust has announced the successful conclusion of their participation in the Chain of Trust (CoT) Pilot, a six-month pilot project led by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CoT was tested between September 2021 and March 2022 and facilitated the border clearance of a small group of Canadian volunteer flight crew participants at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The program was operated by the CBSA in collaboration with partners, including Entrust, Face4 Systems, Factor Safe, Air Canada and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA)To address increasing travel volumes while maintaining the safety and security of Canada’s border, the CBSA is exploring ways to provide self-service options for travelers and facilitate the free-flow of persons and goods through the international border clearance process.
The CoT pilot project tested the use of innovative technology solutions to assess the effectiveness of automating the collection and verification of traveler information and the authentication of travel documents while reducing physical touch-points in the border clearance process.
Launched amid pandemic-restricted travel in March 2021, the CoT Pilot was one of the world’s first use of the latest electronic passport technical standards. This technology delivered a high level of security at border crossings and interoperability with existing inspection systems to simplify and speed up passenger processing at busy travel hubs.
“The Chain of Trust Pilot was one of the first to offer a real-world look at the future of travel, one that allows border services to focus their attention on higher risk situations and exceptions, and simplifies entry for low-risk travelers, Entrust is pleased to have had the opportunity to collaborate with the Government of Canada and all the partners in the Chain of Trust project. The project has proven its value and deepened our understanding of how digital transformation can evolve global travel.”
-Gordon Wilson, Vice President, Identity Verification at Entrust.
Demonstrating the Chain of Trust
The innovative CoT Pilot allowed volunteer Air Canada flight crew participants to use a smartphone app to expedite re-entry into Canada at the Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The program used identity verification technology from Entrust to confirm a traveler’s identity by positively associating them with their uploaded credential. The system leveraged information voluntarily provided in advance of arrival to enable early and continuous risk assessment.
Individual participants used their personal mobile device to extract data electronically from their ePassport, create a digital profile, and store it within the secure storage on their device. These data elements were collected to facilitate identifying the individual and the authenticity of their ePassport. A selfie picture was taken and linked to that individual’s CoT app profile for future travel.
The traveler’s verified credentials were then submitted to CBSA prior to border crossing. Customs declaration submission and assessment for border clearance were all processed through an orchestration layer. The traveler was guided through each step via personalized notifications sent to their smartphone. Border Services Officers participating in the pilot had visibility into traveler’s arrival status and could process travelers through a mobile app upon arrival in a seamless, touchless manner.
The CoT ensures traveler privacy using Privacy by Design principles, and personally identifiable information (PII) is safeguarded through encryption during transmission to the government. No PII has been retained by any non-government project partner.
This collaborative initiative was made possible by the Canadian Safety and Security Program (CSSP). Led by Defence Research and Development Canada, in partnership with Public Safety Canada, the CSSP fosters innovative scientific and technological solutions to Canada’s public safety and security challenges.
The CBSA will take lessons learned from the CoT pilot project and use knowledge gained to advance its commitment to modernize existing border management policies, programs and technologies to a more efficient, sustainable, and innovative future state.
About Entrust Corporation
Entrust keeps the world moving safely by enabling trusted identities, payments and data protection. Today more than ever, people demand seamless, secure experiences, whether they’re crossing borders, making a purchase, accessing e-government services or logging into corporate networks. Entrust offers an unmatched breadth of digital security and credential issuance solutions at the very heart of all these interactions. With more than 2,500 colleagues, a network of global partners, and customers in over 150 countries, it’s no wonder the world’s most entrusted organizations trust us. For more information, visit www.entrust.com.To learn more about Entrust Identity Verification Solutions, visit https://www.entrust.com/solutions/identity-verification.
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