The Chronicle: Issue 2011-37, September 13, 2011
What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology, an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog.
- Will Insurance Respond to Consumers Communications Demands?
Do we have a failure to communicate?
A recent survey by Thunderhead Communications, conducted by YouGov, and reported in eMarketer asked US Internet users whether various service providers communicated with them in their preferred digital channels. - IT Response to Consumerization: Lead, Follow, AND Get out of the Way
The best advice to IT managers encountering a slew of new tablets and smart phones walking in their doors might be: "Lead, Follow, AND Get out of the Way!"
There is a new buzzword, 'Consumerization', which refers to users bringing in new technology that organizations don't formally support.
Social Business
LOGiQ3: What Kind of Social Organization Are You?.
August 18, 2011 - Typically, when companies start to delve into the scary world of social media, there is one champion spearheading the initiative, centralized within one department. However, Owyang suggests that, to see the successes of social media, organizations should move into a "hub and spoke" model. Hub and spoke?! What is that?
Managing Relationships and Customer Service
Sun Life mobile app makes it easier for group plan members to connect.
TORONTO, Sept. 7, 2011 - Today Sun Life Financial launched its free mobile application for the iPhone mobile digital device and BlackBerry® smartphone. This new application, my Sun Life (Canada), provides existing group benefits and group retirement and savings plan members across Canada the ability to submit benefit claims, check plan balances and find ways to save for the future in a single mobile app.
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: USA Homeowners with Flood Insurance Are Significantly Less Satisfied with Their Policies Overall.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif.: 1 September 2011 - Among homeowners insurance policyholders, those with flood insurance tend to be significantly less satisfied with their policy coverage, compared with policyholders who opt not to carry it, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. National Homeowners Insurance StudySM released today.
eBusiness and Technology
IBM to Acquire Algorithmics.
ARMONK, N.Y., - 01 Sep 2011: IBM today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Algorithmics for $387 million, subject to price adjustments at closing. Algorithmics is a risk analytics firm with operations in Toronto, Canada. Algorithmics risk analytics software, content and advisory services are used by banking, investment and insurance businesses to help assess risk, address regulatory requirements and make more insightful business decisions. Algorithmics is a member of Fitch Group, which is majority owned by Fimalac, a holding company based in Paris, France.
IDC Financial Insights Innovation Awards for the Asia/Pacific Insurance Industry.
Singapore and Hong Kong - August 25, 2011 - Eight Asia/Pacific insurance firms were conferred the Financial Insights Innovation Awards (FIIA) at the annual Asian Insurance Congress (AIC) organized by IDC Financial Insights today. The submissions provided by Aviva Ltd, Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Co Ltd, CIGNA International (Thailand), HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co Ltd, I.C.I.C.I. Prudential Life Corporation, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance, MAA Takaful Berhad, and PT Prudential Life Assurance Indonesia emerged as the winning initiatives from among 68 high-quality entries submitted by insurers across the Asia/Pacific region.
Information Builders Brings Closed-Loop Business Intelligence to the Mobile Platform.
NEW YORK, NY - August 15, 2011 - Information Builders, an independent leader in business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the release of WebFOCUS Mobile Data Collection, its solution for building wide-scale BI and data maintenance applications to the mobile platform. With this enhanced offering, users can leverage a closed-loop business intelligence application, enabling them to access and interact with information and make informed data-driven decisions in real time, via any smartphone or tablet device.
Distribution
kasina Finds the Majority of Sales & National Accounts Compensation Plans Fail to Drive Profitability.
New York, (September 07, 2011) - Firms are not using compensation to drive profitable behavior and results, according to kasina's newest study: Excellence in Distribution: Optimizing Compensation to Drive Profitability. Specifically, kasina found that firms are not effectively incentivizing the best performers, managing out underperformers, retaining key personnel with significant long-term or deferred compensation, or rewarding salespeople for balancing sales across products.
Policy and Product Management
Celent: Deal Trends in General Insurance Policy Administration Solutions.
August 24, 2011 -- A large number of vendors are chasing a limited number of deals. However, this does not appear to deter new capital from the market or foreign vendors expanding into Europe. Mergers and acquisitions continue in this sector, with a trend of consolidation. Roughly 20% of the vendor market in Europe changed ownership in the last four years. In a new report, Deal Trends in General Insurance Policy Administration Solutions, Celent looks at deals in the European vendor market and how they impact both the buy and sell sides.
Business of Insurance
I.I.I. Offers Information, Analysis On The Insurance Implications Of 9/11.
NEW YORK, September 2, 2011 - The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) has a variety of resources on the issue of terrorism and insurance available for reporters covering the 10th anniversary of 9/11. This includes arranging an interview with I.I.I. president and economist Dr. Robert Hartwig, a co-author of the I.I.I white paper on terrorism risk and insurance and an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center.
Claims
AER Respond for Insurers to Better Manage Hail Claims.
September 7, 2011 - A collaboration announced today uses NOAA research and data to help the insurance industry anticipate and react to storm damage, saving time and money. The alliance between Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) and the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) supports the research and development of operational weather risk management solutions for insurance and other industries affected by severe storms.
Marketing and the Market Place
LIMRA: Sales Potential for Underinsured Life Insurance Market Doubles in Six Years.
WINDSOR, Conn., Sept. 6, 2011 - A new LIMRA study has quantified the sales potential in the life insurance market of underinsured households in the U.S. The new report, "Trillion Dollar Baby Growing Up," is a follow-up to a 2004 study, in which LIMRA estimated that life insurance sales would increase $9.5 trillion if the 48 million underinsured households bought the amount of life insurance coverage then said they needed.
eMarketer: Online Video Ads in Canada Lag US.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 - eMarketer forecast in June that online ad spending in Canada will reach $2.1 billion in 2011, less than one-tenth of the $31.3 billion spent online in the US this year. While this total seems limited, online marketers in Canada will spend more than $81 per internet user throughout the year?more than their counterparts in Japan, France, Italy or Spain.
Consumer Information
ICBC, police and government join to help keep children safe on our roads.
September 2, 2011 - As summer vacations wrap up and children return to school next week, ICBC, police and the provincial government are reminding drivers to make smart decisions: plan ahead for more traffic, drive with extra caution and watch for children, especially in or around school zones.
TIRF poll: Distracted driving, more than just cell phones.
OTTAWA, September 6, 2011 - A new Road Safety Monitor (RSM) poll by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF) shows that a majority of Canadians continue to mainly associate distracted driving with cell phone use while continuing to engage in other distracting behaviours. The public opinion poll conducted in September 2010 investigated Canadians' driving behaviours and perceptions of distracted driving.
SGI: Make sure you're protected before you go.
September 2011 - Health insurance isn't the only type of coverage you need before your next trip to the United States. Maybe you're driving to North Dakota for some weekend shopping or planning a family trip to Arizona this winter. Whatever the case, it's important to have the protection you need if you'll be driving while you're there.
from Doug:
My wife is a great user of The Toronto Public Library system, for online research, books and DVD's. She requests items online and when they arrive at the local branch, she has a week to pick them up. In the DVD category (limited TV too for that matter) we tend to watch British programs. One that got our interest a few years ago was MI5. Initially each DVD from the library had a single one-hour episode. Recently they have bundled a season (8 episodes) onto three DVD's in one package. As one can borrow DVDs for only one week, and as season 8 and 9 arrived over the last two weeks, we have had two weekends in a row with four evenings of entertainment. Did enjoy them, but I am glad that they are only now shooting season 10 - I don't need another for a while..