The last two years have seen unprecedented testing, adoption and acceptance of emerging technologies by insurance companies driven to reinvent the way the industry has traditionally conducted business.

With legacy systems flagging in effectiveness and consumer preferences pushing more-modern methods and service standards forward, the opportunity to find new applications for emerging technologies in the insurance industry is significant, and not to be ignored. However, with such disparity between the average insurer's level of technology maturity and the possibilities presented by emerging technologies, it's easy for insurer IT priorities and budget dollars to get hijacked by shiny objects and promises of the next big thing.

Step in the right direction

The current hype around "insurtech," and consumer demand that insurers prove the ability to innovate, has prominent insurers signing up for telematics initiatives for which legacy core administration systems offer limited support, and testing Google Glass to enhance efficiency in underwriting and risk control.