Aite Group announces the appointment of Pat Speer to a senioranalyst position within the company's insurance practice, coveringthe business, technology, and regulatory issues affectingsenior-level stakeholders within the P&C insurance sector.

An award-winning business professional with more than 10 yearsof experience in the insurance industry, Speer's broaderexperience includes over a decade of ancillary business-to-businesscommunications, allowing her to study and report on softwaresystems and senior management issues that apply to companies of allsizes across a variety of vertical markets. A frequent speaker atindustry events, Speer founded several insurance technologysolution provider awards and education programs, includingInsurance Networking News' INNovators, Vanguards in InsurancePractices, and the Women in Insurance Leadership Program, where shecontinues to serve on the advisory board.

Speer is also an active volunteer with the Insurance Accounting& Systems Association (IASA) and has served as a judge forIASA's Technology Achievement Award. At ACORD, Ms. Speer served onan educational advisory committee that supported the curriculumchosen for the standards organizations' annual ACORD LOMAForum.

Prior to joining Aite Group, she served as editor-in-chief ofInsurance Networking News and held leadership positions at a numberof trade publishing organizations. In her early career, she workedat the agent level at State Farm Insurance and functioned as aclaims processor at Aetna.