TraceSafe: leveraging digital innovation to keep passengers safe

By: TraceSafe Technologies Inc.

For more than a year now, we’ve collectively experienced the halt of global travel in the wake of COVID-19. We’ve all seen (and experienced) challenges. Still, we’ve also seen incredible advancements as industries come together in new and exciting ways — from developing vaccines to leaning on innovative technologies to reopen safely.

According to McKinsey, staying competitive during these times of crisis requires digital thinking… in fact, “experimentation with and investment in digital technologies have both played a key role in helping companies navigate successfully through the crisis.” How can the cruise industry leverage digital innovation despite being shut down for most of the past 12 months, and what kind of digital solutions are needed to stay competitive?

Enter TraceSafe: the Canadian firm has been keeping passengers safe and opening doors with wearable technology since the beginning of the pandemic. With a customizable platform and intelligent devices that can do pretty much anything, they survived their first trials at the Hong Kong International Airport and Cayman Islands, which turned into a successful country-wide arrival quarantine program. Since then, they’ve been keeping bubbles intact and enhancing guest experiences alongside national governments, Fortune 500 firms, the International Ice Hockey Federation and most excitingly — multiple cruise lines.

Moving across international borders in a low connectivity environment: it’s no secret that cruise lines present a special kind of challenge for privacy considerations and remote technology. TraceSafe has developed a unique solution that uses LTE Bluetooth technology that works out at sea and a robust privacy-first approach led by their Chief Privacy Officer. With a leadership team that boasts professionals from the hospitality industry, they also know how to design wearables that feel more like a souvenir than a single-use festival band.

Heightening Passenger Experiences, Safely

The passengers of the future expect more than just safety when they disembark for the long awaited cruise. That’s why, in January 2021, TraceSafe announced the formation of a strategic Cruise Ship and Hospitality Advisory Council to establish best practice protocols and product innovations for the specific benefit of cruise lines. Based on the Council’s input, TraceSafe products now include low connectivity support, APIs for rapid pairing, gyroscopes for human activity recognition, RFID protocol for payment processing, as well as capacity and safety monitoring.

With an eye on the best cruise experiences, both in terms of safety and guest satisfaction, cruise lines can now integrate technology that gives them the best of both worlds. And with future developments focused on AI for human activity recognition, TraceSafe’s products will go one step further: offering cruise lines revenue generation for their services, heat mapping to determine the movement of guests, and the ability for operators to distribute employee resources to better serve guests and passengers.

With digital technology on its side, the future of cruising is bright.