Ford government says it will develop vaccine passport app in-house in six weeks. It took Quebec four months

Thestar.com
Sept. 6, 2021

The Ontario government has told the Star it will take a different approach than other provinces in developing its mobile app for COVID-19 vaccine certification, opting to build the program in house instead of contracting it out to a tech company.

It’s an approach that one tech expert characterized as “messy” -- suggesting the provincial government planned the process hastily, and that it might be cheaper and faster to contract the app out to a private company or go with a web-based QR code system instead.

The development of the “made in Ontario” app is being led by the government’s Ontario Digital Service in consultation with the private sector, and the government has said it will be ready for release by Oct. 22. It is not clear how far along the development of the Ontario app is, but the CEO of Akinox, the company that developed the VaxiCode system in Quebec, said development of his company’s app took about four months.

“We are leveraging in-house capabilities and talent while also engaging with other jurisdictions and private sector companies, including those based in Ontario, to learn from their work and experiences,” said Amanda Brodhagen, a spokesperson for the associate minister of digital government. “We are able to leverage user experience and design, while developing our own made in Ontario app.”

Richard Hyatt, a technology entrepreneur and CEO of QR code development company Candr, is skeptical of the government’s plans to develop the app internally. His company has already developed a web-based passport system that allows people to upload their current Ontario vaccine receipt and create a secure QR code that is stored on the user’s device, but not on the company’s internal system.

Based on how the announcement for a vaccination verification process has rolled out in Ontario, he said he has doubts the government has put much time into it.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford had previously argued that a vaccine certificate was not necessary for Ontario and that the vaccine receipt was sufficient. He announced the policy change last week.

“I think their strategy is really messy … I don’t think this was part of this strategy,” Hyatt said. “I think it was an ‘OK we’ve got egg on our face, we need to backtrack.’ And it’s not the first time the Ford government has done this.”

He expects Ontario’s app to be modelled on the one already released in Quebec and says it may have made more sense to contract it out.

“Their costs are going to be a lot different and they may not have the same skills that the private sector has … I think they could pull something off; I don’t think they’re going to pull off something spectacular,” Hyatt said.

Brodhagen said Ontario has been in regular meetings with other jurisdictions on the need to standardize ways to securely and privately share vaccination status, but Quebec’s app was “purpose-built for Quebec and would require customization and procurement for Ontario’s needs.”

Joshua S. Gans, a digital strategist and professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said he doesn’t see issues with Ontario developing the app, noting that similar apps are being developed around the world for this purpose.

“It’s easy to make an app. The hard thing is to link it in with the official system in a private and secure way,” Gans said.

Having said that, he acknowledged there could be “wrinkles and other things that might not work properly” if the app is developed and released too quickly, but this will likely be mitigated by the fact there is a prototype to replicate, he said.

“I doubt Ontario has such a different database and system for keeping those public records in the first place, that it would make it impossible to do this and require something completely different,” he said.

Alexander Dahl, CEO of Akinox, the company that developed the app in Quebec, said his company has had a number of exchanges with the Ontario Digital Service and Ministry of Health, but would not disclose if it is one of the private sector companies being consulted.

He said his company took about four months to develop the Quebec app from conception, development and analysis to testing -- and it would be quite a feat if a government could develop its own from scratch within roughly six weeks.

“I would be concerned for those provinces that (intend) to build on their own … They may have started some of the work earlier so I can’t speculate on that,” Dahl said.

His recommendation to the Ontario government is to not underestimate how much work may be needed to make the application compatible across different devices with a simple and appealing user interface.

“There a lot of things that we often underestimate, how complex they can prove or how much effort might be required in getting something fit for such a wide range in use,” Dahl said.

The application will also have to be updated and supported after its release. He noted his company had to update its application after an IT specialist found a way to generate false proof of vaccination QR codes.

“That’s also something that governments, typically, are not used to as much, managing apps; they’re used to managing websites … there’s definitely an adaptation or different ways of doing things that they’re not used to.”

Ontario is separately developing an enhanced vaccine certificate with a unique QR code, which is aimed at individuals, as well as the mobile application, which will allow businesses and other organizations to scan the QR code and quickly validate if someone is immunized. People will be able to either print their unique QR code or store it on their phone, to show alongside government-issued photo ID.

Different jurisdictions are taking varying approaches. Quebec’s application is available in two versions: one for people to store their unique QR code and another specifically for businesses and other organizations. In Manitoba, the immunization card is available digitally, in an app and as a physical card, and there is a separate verification app for organizations and businesses to scan the code.

British Columbia has announced plans to launch a vaccine card website for its verification process, which will include a card that can be saved to smartphones. B.C. already has an app called the B.C. Services Card that stores medical information and it’s unclear if there are plans to release an app specific to COVID-19 shots.