Would you get on a plane right now? Do you even know if you can or where you are allowed to go? What about the rules once you arrive?
There should be an app for that.
That's what The Commons Project, a US non-profit public trust supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, is trying to do.
"If there's a different system from every point of origin to every destination, then it's just going to be chaos," Paul Meyer, chief executive of The Commons Project, tells The National.
His venture is working to bring the chaos to heel under a single system: a standard global platform to document a person's Covid-19 status and inform them of the requirements to cross international borders, such as testing and quarantine.
The platform, called CommonPass, is being built for Apple and Android devices – and it has some big backers. The chief executive of National Aviation Services, which operates 45 airports in the Mena region and emerging markets, is a trustee and vocal supporter. The World Economic Forum is a strategic partner. Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong flag carrier, and the governments of Japan, which will host the Olympics next year, and Bangladesh, which has millions of citizens to safely repatriate, are part of talks to get CommonPass off the ground.
There really is a need and an opportunity to create a common framework to enable the resumption of travel in a safe way
Countries around the world are racing to contain the pandemic while simultaneously restarting and reopening business activity – and travel plays a pivotal role, making up a little more than a tenth of the world’s economy.
The pandemic has been devastating to the industry. Emirates, the world's biggest long-haul airline, processed nearly 650,000 refund requests – worth Dh1.9 billion – in the past two months, and says it still has half a million more to work through.
Reopening borders and allowing international travel to resume is part of the healing process, one that requires protecting public health. Already, countries are beginning to develop bilateral or regional agreements to allow some travel to resume, often referred to as "travel bubbles" or corridors.
But a lack of co-ordination among governments and airlines threatens the long-term health of aviation and presents a logistical nightmare for travellers. The International Air Transport Association, a major lobby group that represents 82 per cent of global carriers, is a proponent of a common framework.
"We would like to see all countries around the world adopting similar measures," Muhammad Albakri, VP Africa & Middle East at IATA, tells The National. He says a patchwork plan would be "scary", and "too costly and too complex" to operate for airlines.
"Air travel has been built over the past 100 years on a collective set of agreements that have been agreed worldwide," he says. "It's a system that works, no matter where you fly, no matter where you depart, where you arrive.
"We need to maintain this collective agreement and this collective thinking when it comes to the post-Covid-19 travel restart. Otherwise, the restart will take for ever."
Unlike the vision for so-called "immunity passports", which have been criticised for relying on specious antibody tests and are not applicable to the majority of the global population, CommonPass will work like sorting out one's visa.
In the same way governments have agreements for citizens to cross borders, some at a cost, CommonPass will maintain an updated database of who can travel where and what the rules are to comply with Covid-19 precautions once they arrive. A CommonPass user can see what the testing and quarantine requirements are for their destination, locate a government-approved testing centre nearby, and see and share the results of their test using a QR code.
“There are some things you don't want an individual government or a tech company to build. And there really is a need and an opportunity to create a common framework to enable the resumption of travel in a safe way,” Meyer says.
The interface is being built by global design consultancy Ideo.
CommonPass faces a mix of opportunity and challenge to be widely adopted, Christoph Wolff, head of mobility industries at the World Economic Forum, says.
"The main challenge is the lack of scientific consensus around immunity and the fact that research on vaccines and effective treatments is still ongoing," he tells The National.
In the meantime, he says countries are likely to rely on the verification of someone’s Covid-19 status in order to allow citizens to travel. A standardised model for sharing that health data around the world in a way that protects a person's privacy is exactly what CommonPass is aiming to achieve.
The task is "challenging but critical to restore travel", Wolff says.
But if it can be done – a big if – CommonPass would help rebuild a more resilient travel industry. Wolff says it is a "tremendous opportunity to reshape future of travel".
The distance learning plan
Spring break will be from March 8 - 19
Public school pupils will undergo distance learning from March 22 - April 2. School hours will be 8.30am to 1.30pm
Staff will be trained in distance learning programmes from March 15 - 19
Teaching hours will be 8am to 2pm during distance learning
Pupils will return to school for normal lessons from April 5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Wonka
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
'The Lost Daughter'
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Starring: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson
Rating: 4/5
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Crazy Rich Asians
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeon, Gemma Chan
Four stars
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 3
Gayle (23'), Perez (59', 63')
Chelsea 0
RACE CARD
4pm Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m
5.10pm Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m
