The global pace of technological advances is increasing rapidly with personal computers, the internet and mobile phones being an integral part of our daily lives. As shown in Figure 1 below, TV took 13 years to reach 50 million users, while the internet took just four years and the iPad took under two years to reach the same point. Technology today supports our primary communication; we tweet, shop online, work remotely and access data in two clicks. Given this phenomenal rate of change, the implications for individuals and the corporate world–including the (re)insurance industry–are significant. Technology transforms and supports all we do at home and at work.

Source: Celent It was unimaginable, even five years ago, that technology could give us 3D printing for military parts' production,to create prosthetic joints and design personalized pastaat home. Mobile robotics has enabled computer driven operations, using the MRI scan for guidance, for conditions such as prostate cancer and the self-drive car, which is now a reality. A look at Amazon's acquisitions and investment in robotics show how seriously companies are taking these developments. The Cloud, which reduces the risk of data loss and offers tremendous access and usage flexibility, is another illustration of technological advancement providing major business benefits. All of these examples have a significant impact on how we live our lives but also, how products and services we offer will change with technological advancement.

Celent, a research company specializing in insurance technology, surveyed insurance and reinsurance companies to find the current focus for technology investment with 75% of respondents citing underwriting capabilities and expertise as the key differentiator in the business. Digital claims and data capabilities also resonated strongly.

Source: Celent Underwriting capabilities are enhanced with the introduction of advanced technology systems, agile business development applications and the internet, changing the way data is generated, accessed and used. Sophisticated data analysis provides strategic insight, increases the time available to underwriters for the value-adding business of risk assessment and improves confidence in data by providing a measurable commercial value. The Lloyd's market "Genesis" pilot is improving data quality and reducing costs through a shared data capture service for the market. Modernization has been an elusive goal for the London market with a number of false starts but the need for standardization is understood even if it has not always been accepted. Insurance companies have great potential to standardize and automate operating processes across business lines, delivering significant efficiency gains.

The digital revolution has a profound impact on consumer-facing businesses where web design, apps and mobile devices play a key part in business growth, brand and operational effectiveness. For most of us, there is a blur in terms of the digital boundary between work and home and, as a result, service and delivery expectations have risen. Digital technologies, however, offer us much more than this in terms of business transaction and provision of new value-added services to brokers and clients.

Digital technology helps build business-to-business relationships. Business messaging can automate accounting practices and, with the integration of internal and external systems, settlement processes will become more efficient and manual systems will be reduced. We see the benefits of digital marketing on LinkedIn and, as we expand into new markets and geographies, we can utilize new media channels to increase our client and business partner marketing and sales opportunities. Care still needs to be taken to operate digitally in a secure and integrated fashion, using digital technologyto improve provision of client services and methods of conducting business.

Claims capabilities are transformed by end-to-end workflow technology systems. Successful claims management is all about the right claim, the right adjuster and the right toolsto drive best practice and minimize claims paid leakage. Workflows can be ordered according to those likely to be settled quickly, those needing more experienced assessment and those that need expert fee spend which increases capacity and capability. An enhanced claims capability is more than just efficient claims payment because the creation of an accessible claims history supports improvements in underwriting pricing and reserving–a real competitive advantage.

As for data capabilities, it is all about making data talk. Data can be cut vertically, horizontally and provide a multitude of pictures that provide in-depth management information that offers tremendous business insight. It can be cut by geography, product, regulatory entity and more. We need, however, to be careful not to twist data to confirm our desired outcome. Data's strength is not only to validate but also to develop opinion. Having meaningful and reliable data facilitates stronger analytical and modeling capability, increases our understanding and allows better targeting and the ability to leverage business opportunities.

Technological advance in data and analytics offer the greatest scope for new opportunities. Much of this development is often referred to as "big data"–a term for data and analytical tools such as telematics that process and analyse semi- structured and unstructured data (such as images, sound files and high volume data feeds) that are not stored in traditional databases. Data contained in LinkedIn or Facebook accounts, for example, illustrates this potential. The maturity of big data analytics technologies allows companies like Aspen to generate insights much more rapidly using structured (database) and unstructured (big) data.

The use of big analytics already has had an impact on the insurance market. General insurers have used telematicsfor some time, collecting data from black boxes installed in vehicles to monitor speed, location and time when the insured is driving both to price risk and monitor restrictions on the policy. This is likely to spread to other markets suchas container shipping and transportation, tracking location and reducing risk of theft by automatically monitoring real time location data feeds against routes between locations and raising real time alerts. New insurance products based on big data capabilities of the insured will continue to be created as this technology becomes more commonplace.

Big data techniques can be used to realize the value of a company's existing assets–namely policy documentation and claims records. These documents become "dark data" which, although accessible, are not easily analyzed but are a valuable business asset. Using keyword analytics, we can perform intelligent analysis of embedded document text to identify specific terms and conditions of every policy allowing us to undertake further risk analysis across an entire book of business.

Chief analytics officers, data scientists and technology specialists understand how to analyze and interpret results. As Bill Gates said, "Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without talking about the other."

Special Reports /

Technology in (Re)Insurance: More Than Just a Helping Hand

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