Potential threats, or partners?

To succeed, traditional insurers will have to use the data it collects wisely to better serve clients, before they choose non-traditional providers.

“Big data” gets its name in part because there is so much of it; it’s in identifying discernible patterns that it actually delivers value. And in some cases, discovering hidden threats — or opportunity — is likewise worth the price of admission.

In January, global information technology innovators NTT Data released a report authored by Senior Practice Lead, Insurance Data and Analytics, Normand Lepine that’s focused on smart homes and how insureds might share data on their domiciles if they received something in return — as well as what valuable data the Internet of Things, at least as far as smart homes in particular, might present to insurers in the future. Both consumers and carrier executives were surveyed. (It’s worth defining at this point that “smart homes” are those that include devices that have networked connectivity, such as security systems, frozen-pipe sensors, cameras and smoke/carbon dioxide detectors, to name a few.)