The Chronicle: Issue 2012-08, February 21, 2012

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca BlogWhat's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology, an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog.

Technology

GMC Software Technology: Multichannel Communications: New Media Channels Offer Many Paths to Improved Customer Communications - By Michael Watts, COO.
With a slowly recovering economy and changing consumer habits, building trust and loyalty with customers has never been more important for insurance organizations. While traditional print mail-including policy statements and correspondence-and the customer service call center remain viable and important channels of communication, there are now new media channels that offer many additional ways to convey information and interact with consumers, including mobile and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Compuware Launches New Website Performance Benchmarks for Canada.
DETROIT and TORONTO, Feb. 9, 2012 -- Compuware Corporation, the technology performance company, today announced the launch of new website performance benchmarks in Canada. The new benchmarks for the automotive, banking, brokerage, and insurance industries allow companies to compare and track website performance against competitors and market leaders.

"The New Landscape"
Social Business, Mobile, Analytics, Modern Technology

10th Annual Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference10th Annual Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference
Sheraton Centre Hotel (Toronto) - Monday, March 5th, 2012
Details of the Conference.

In addition to a set of sessions which run all day and are really focused on analytics in its various forms, several other sessions almost certainly have dependency on, or opportunity for analytics:

See the agenda at a glance, and register today.

Distribution

Economical's Energie Auto now across Canada; Energie Property rolling out in 2012.
WATERLOO, ON, February 14, 2012 - The Economical Insurance Group achieved a major milestone in January with EnergieTM/MC, its web-based underwriting system, when it completed the rollout of Energie Auto in Quebec. Energie is an investment in the future with the goal of providing increasingly intuitive and efficient workflows.

Ontario Brokers Association Unveils New Strategic Plan.
February 16, 2012 - (Toronto, Ontario) Today, the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) is unveiling its new Vision and Mission statements, developed by its board of directors as part of their 2012-2014 Strategic Plan. Every two years, IBAO's Board of Directors, along with its Senior Management revisit the organization's strategic plan.

illustrate inc to highlight True Engine Architecture™ at LIMRA's 2012 Distribution Conference.
(TORONTO, Canada - February 7, 2012) illustrate inc, a leader in sales automation technology for the financial services industry, announces a new campaign for 2012 that will focus on their True Engine Architecture™. They plan on unveiling the campaign at the upcoming LIMRA Distribution Conference, February 22nd through the 24th in Jacksonville, Florida.

LIMRA Study: Serving Producers Is Top Reason Life Insurers Adopt Mobile Technology Initiatives.
WINDSOR, Conn., Feb. 14, 2012 - Almost nine in 10 life insurers who have or plan mobile technology initiatives do so to meet growing producer demands and provide better support services; a quarter listed it as the top reason for adopting mobile technology into their business strategy.

Alpine Insurance & Financial (Alberta's Trusted Advisors™) Merges with Westland Insurance (Alberta).
Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 - Calgary, AB. Ken Hughes, Founder and President of Alpine Insurance & Financial Inc. and Cam Clay, Founder and President of Westland Insurance (Alberta) are pleased to announce the merger of the two brokerages effective immediately. Hughes and Clay are equal partners and Hughes will be appointed as Chairman and CEO, while Clay will be appointed as President and COO.

Claims

Xactware Launches XactAnalysis SP mobile for iPhone.
OREM, Utah-Feb. 14, 2012 - Contractors, service providers, and independent adjusters can now easily manage property claims assignments on their iPhone® using XactAnalysis® SP mobile, the latest mobile app from Xactware. XactAnalysis SP mobile helps users improve response time by giving them the ability to access, view, and update claims assignments, even when they're in the field or away from the computer.

CDRG Announces Global Content Solutions Facility Officially Opens.
February 16, 2012 - CDRG is pleased to announce the opening of Southern Ontario's most state-of-the art content restoration facility, Global Content Solutions (GCS). GCS is capable of restoring smoke, soot, water and sewage damaged goods to better than pre-loss condition using both the patented Esporta Wash System as well as the Fireline System.

Our People

Economical ranks 6th globally for excellence in workforce training and development.
WATERLOO, ON, February 15, 2012 - Economical, one of Canada's largest property and casualty insurers, has been named a global leader in Training Magazine's annual ranking of 125 organizations that offer outstanding employer-sponsored workforce training and development. The awards program recognized Economical for aligning training with corporate strategy through several key initiatives.

Social Business

eMarketer: Millennials Look to Digital Word-of-Mouth to Drive Purchase Process.
FEBRUARY 2, 2012 - In a few short years, millennials-consumers currently ages 18 to 34-will account for a sizeable portion of US purchase decision-makers. Yet Bazaarvoice found these digital natives are already using and creating online content to recommend or dissuade friends, family and anonymous site-visitors from a brand, product or service.

Marketing and the Market Place

Desjardins: World first for client contact centres.
Montreal, February 9, 2012 - Desjardins Group's AccèsD Services client contact centres (www.desjardins.com) have received the prestigious COPC (Customer Operation Performance Center) certification for an eighth consecutive year. Currently, no other organization in the world of any type has held a COPC certification for this long. This certification is one of the most exacting standards in the world for client contact centre operations.

Eastbridge's year-end 2011 survey: Voluntary Industry Confidence Index increases.
AVON, CONNECTICUT, USA (February 8, 2012) - The latest results of Eastbridge Consulting Group's Voluntary Industry Confidence Index survey are positive. The overall Confidence Index increased to 99.7, up from 98.4 in the mid-year survey.

Forrester Research: CMOs See Business Strategy & Digital Marketing As Top Priorities.
Cambridge, Mass., January 23, 2012 . . . Chief marketing officers (CMOs) want to have greater influence in setting business strategy, and they feel an increasing need to raise their technology IQ, according to a new global CMO survey by Heidrick & Struggles and Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR). "The Evolved CMO 2012" report is based on a survey of nearly 200 global marketing leaders to measure CMOs' influence within the organization, their business objectives, and the skills and competencies necessary to drive a customer-obsessed organization and respond to the technology-empowered customer.

kasina: Majority of Marketing Strategies Do Not Build Brand Loyalty or Impact Bottom Line.
New York, (January 24, 2012) - kasina's new study, Digital, Data-Driven, Differentiated: The Future of Marketing for Asset Managers and Insurers identifies ways for today's marketing teams to move from being cost centers to demonstrating impact on profitability. While 52% of marketing teams report to the strategic C-level, few have impact-oriented goals.

Consumer Information

ICBC Ipsos Reid Survey reveals B.C. car buyers consider cost before safety.
February 8, 2012 - A recent Ipsos Reid surveyexternal link conducted on behalf of ICBC found that only 32 per cent of car buyers in B.C. named safety as one of their top three considerations when deciding which vehicle to buy, while 48 per cent named price and 42 per cent named fuel efficiency.

IBC Congratulates Police on Project Enterprise.
TORONTO, Feb. 17, 2012 - Insurance Bureau of Canada congratulates Niagara Regional Police, Toronto Police Service, and OPP on news this week of an auto-fraud bust called "Project Enterprise." IBC's Investigative Services works with insurers and law enforcement to bring to justice the criminals who defraud the system and threaten the safety of innocent drivers.

from Doug:

Although our condo is a new building and several more are going up not far away, we actually live in the oldest part of Toronto. About six blocks distant, under a layer of asphalt pavement, lie buried the charred remnants of Ontario's first Parliament Buildings. Recently acquired by Ontario Heritage Trust, a building on a parcel of land over half of the foundations formerly housed a Porsche dealership. As part of 2012 Heritage Week, on Friday a new display was unveiled there - formerly displaying expensive cars, now great history. This display kicks off Ontario's memorial celebrations for the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Our current Lieutenant Governor, His Honour David Onley - a fellow Loyalist - cut the ribbon. It was the first of his predecessors, John Graves Simcoe, Ontario's first Lieutenant Governor, who initiated the construction of those buildings over 200 years ago. The Americans burned them in April of 1813. One display case offered one of Simcoe's swords, one which he carried as commander of the Queen's Rangers in the American Revolution, arguably the best fighting unit on either side. Who ever said our history was dull!

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