“The goal is for the coronavirus passport to contribute to a gradual, safe and effective reopening of Denmark,” the country’s Agency for Digitization, wrote in a press release announcing the tender.

“The specific applications will, among other things, depend on the assessment of health professionals. The solution will be developed in partnership with business and cultural organisations to ensure that it meets their individual demands.”

Denmark’s government was in February one of the first countries to announce plans for a digital coronavirus passport. It has now divided the work into two parts: developing a “user-friendly” app, and updating the health system’s IT infrastructure so that it can as seamlessly as possible transfer the required information.

As the app is intended to be shown at borders while travelling, the developer will also need to ensure that the app meets EU requirements for coronavirus passports. 

The agency has already held meetings with four companies to discuss the project, the US IT giant IBM, the Danish IT companies Netcompany and Trifork, and the Norwegian IT firm Visma.

The company that wins the bidding will be expected to deliver the finished app in May.

Jan Hessellund, chief executive of Billund airport, told the Ritzau newswire that the coronavirus passport could be “the return of travel as we knew it before Covid-19. It will be really good for us,” she said.

Rikke Zeberg, head of digitization at the Confederation of Danish Industry, said that the passport could allow a wide range businesses to reopen.

“Together with vaccines, the coronavirus passport is a crucial tool for reopening society, just as it will be one of the most important tools for ensuring a sustained reopening and avoiding a new wave of closures,” she said.

“With a vaccine or rapid test result and a coronavirus passport in hand, you could, for example, go to the cinema, go to university, or get on a plane with a minimal risk of bringing the infection with you.”