Cologne start-up helps develop the digital vaccination certificate

The US company IBM and the start-up Ubirch are working together on a digital vaccination certificate for Germany. The order volume is in the millions.

Germany is one step closer to a digital vaccination certificate: Cologne-based start-up Ubirch and US company IBM have won the tender to develop a digital vaccination certificate within the EU, beating competitors such as Oracle and Deutsche Telekom.

Ubirch specializes in blockchain solutions that can be used to encrypt vaccination status information in a tamper-proof manner. According to the start-up, the source code for the digital vaccination certificate will be publicly accessible. The Cologne-based company already has experience in working with local authorities, for example, it manages the test results of the test center at Frankfurt Airport and is part of a consortium for the digitalization of coronavirus test results.

CEO Stephan Noller of Ubirch is delighted: "The fact that the large corporation IBM has been awarded the contract by the Federal Ministry of Health together with the Cologne-based start-up Ubirch is truly exemplary and we are very pleased," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

In addition to IBM and Ubirch, the Berlin-based company Govidigtal and the IT service provider Bechtle are also involved in the development. Govidigital will develop the infrastructure for Ubirch's blockchain solutions. The two companies have jointly introduced the digital vaccination certificate as a pilot project in two municipalities. There, the vaccination status can be viewed via a QR code on a card. In future, this will work via an app. The contract is worth 2.7 million euros. It should take twelve weeks before the digital vaccination certificate is ready for use.