PKD Governance

In 2007, the ICAO PKD was created by the ICAO Council at the request of ICAO Contracting States. The ICAO PKD operates under the authority of the "Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) Regarding Participation and Cost Sharing in the Electronic Machine Readable Travel Documents ICAO Public Key Directory" (MoU).

ICAO PKD Board

The ICAO PKD Board is the standing body responsible for the ICAO PKD and is responsible for a range of administrative and operational procedures to ensure the efficient operation of the PKD, including its financial and contractual management. In addition, the PKD Board develops policies on issues affecting the management, use and deployment of PKD systems in ePassport issuance and ePassport validation at border control.

The ICAO PKD Board is currently made up of fifteen Board Members who are nominated by PKD Participants and appointed by the ICAO Council (in accordance with the provisions of the MoU).

In May 2024, the incumbent Chairperson of the Board, Mr. Mario Wiesen (Luxembourg) stepped down from his role due to transfer to another role in his government. Mr. Cor de Jonge (Netherlands) who was Vice-Chairperson at the time took up the role ad interim.

Hear the thoughts of incoming and outgoing Chairs reflecting on previous work and hopes and intentions for the future in these video interviews, available on ICAOtv. (free of charge account required).

ICAO PKD Board Membership – 2025

Chairperson:  Mr. Cor de Jonge (Netherlands)
 

The ICAO PKD Board determines a range of operational procedures including:

• PKD Board Rules of Procedure
• PKD Board Procedure for Handling Operational Complaints
• PKD Board Procedures for Amendments to the MoU
• PKD Board Procedure for the PKD Fee Schedule

The ICAO PKD Board procedural documents and MoU are available for download at PKD Documents.

Details of the application of these arrangements are provided to new PKD Participants after payment of their Registration Fee.

The ICAO PKD Board's annual report to PKD Participants reviewing operational issues in the ICAO PKD is also available for download at PKD Documents.

The names and contact details of PKD Participants are included for download.

Executive Body of the ICAO PKD Board

The ICAO PKD Board established a PKD Executive Body (PKD EB). The PKD EB consists of the PKD Board Chairperson, the PKD Board Vice-Chairperson, and three PKD Board Executive Members (EBM) that are current with their fee payments. ICAO Secretariat, the Operator and ISO representative should participate as advisors. The PKD EB may invite experts to the meetings if advice is required.

The PKD Executive Body has the following tasks:

• ​Meets regularly, at least twice a year, and keeps summary minutes of its meetings;
• Evaluates and discusses operational issues related to the PKD with the operator;
• Evaluates and discusses issues raised by Members or Participants;
• Exercises oversight over the operator (checks and approves monthly reports, checks the audit reports, tracks mandates and projects);
• Prepares policy and strategy decisions for the Board;
• ​Checks the fund statements per 30.06.20xx and formulates recommendations to the Board regarding financial statements pertaining to the ICAO PKD and any related financial activities and the budget proposals;
• ​Reports on its work to the Board; and
• Executes the mandates given by the Board.

Members of the PKD Executive Body: 
Chairperson of the PKD Board - Mr. Cor de Jonge (the Netherlands)
Vice-Chairperson of the PKD Board - Vacant since October 2025

Executive Board Members 
Ms. Tori Lamb (Australia)
Mr. Osman Shah (Canada)
Mr. Roman Vanek (Switzerland)

Contract Support Group

The Contract Support Group (CSG) was established to handle the tender process of the PKD operational contract. It will

• report to the PKD Board;
• closely cooperate with the ICAO Secretariat;
• handle planning for the next tender procedure for the PKD operational contract as of 2020; and
• ​prepare and submit to the PKD Board for final agreement relevant PKD Board tender procedure deliverables.

Members of the Contract Support Group:
Australia, Canada, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Uganda, United Kingdom and the United States.