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Indonesian e-passport gets PKD certificate from ICAO
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ndonesian eletronic travel documents or electronic passports (e-passports) have received the Public Key Directory (PKD) certificate from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
The PKD is a central repository for exchanging information required to authenticate e-passports.
The certificate was handed to Indonesia’s Immigration Director General Ronny F. Sompie by ICAO secretary-general Fang Liu during the announcement of a memorandum of understanding at ICAO headquarters in Montreal, Canada, on Sept. 25.
Indonesia’s immigration office entourage also met with ICAO president Olumuyiwa Bernard Aliu.
The ICAO is a specialized UN agency established in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention.
On its website, the organization says that the ICAO works with the convention’s 193 member states and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector.
In addition to its core work resolving consensus-driven international SARPs and policies among its member states and industry and among many other priorities and programs, the ICAO also coordinates assistance and capacity building for member states in support of numerous aviation development objectives, produces global plans to coordinate multilateral strategic progress for safety and air navigation, monitors and reports on air transportation performance metrics and audits states’ civil aviation oversight capabilities in the areas of safety and security.
An e-passport, also known as a biometric passport or digital passport, is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip that contains biometric information to authenticate the identity of the passport holder.
Many countries are moving toward the issuance of e-passports. Malaysia reportedly became the first country to issue e-passports in 1998. By December 2008, 60 countries had followed suit, which increased to 120 by June 2017.
However, among the e-passport-issuing countries, only 69 countries are PKD recipients, with Indonesia becoming the latest country to obtain the certificate.
Immigration head office spokesperson Sam Fernando said that, having been given the PKD certificate, data of Indonesian e-passports could be accessed by 69 countries and vice versa, making it easier for the holder to cross borders.
PKD certification is required by e-passports-issuing countries to enable the exchange of information.
The Immigration Directorate General says it is looking to up the number of offices issuing electronic passports from currently 9 to 27 by the end of this year.
It has also announced a plan to trial issuing polycarbonate-made e-passports at four immigration offices by the end of this year, and by 2024, all immigration offices are expected to issue polycarbonate e-passports.
