New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders have agreed on a state budget that still includes merging the state’s insurance and banking departments.

FIS Software, a provider of policy administration systems for life, annuity, pension, and health products, and WorkLight, a developer of mobile application platform technology, have partnered to enable insurance companies to provide smartphone and tablet applications to agents, brokers, and policyholders.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned a massive sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of at least 500,000 women claiming that Wal-Mart favors men over women in pay and promotions.

Fortunately for the insurance world, executives are hungry for this information and are convinced that getting a 360 degree view of their customer—both agents and policyholders—is worthwhile. They actively take this information and turn it into strategies for attracting new business, rejecting old business, and sorting through claims.