INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Next-Generation Technology Creates Watershed Moment For Cybersecurity Industry
The pandemic has led to an acceleration of cyber-attacks, and incremental progress will not be enough to stop the next wave of cybersecurity risks. A new Future Series report from the World Economic Forum reveals that quantum computing, artificial intelligence, digital identity systems and ubiquitous connectivity are transforming the foundations of cyberspace and have brought the industry to a watershed moment.
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Commercial Insurance Buyers Can Expect Hard Market To Continue: Willis Towers Watson
North American commercial insurance prices are expected to increase in every line except one, according to Willis Towers Watson's 2021 Insurance Marketplace Realities report. Promisingly, the leading global advisory, broking and solutions company suggests that the insurance industry will adapt to the continuing hard market by utilizing analytics and data-driven tools to change the way both buyers and sellers approach the negotiating table when it comes to risk transfer.
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IMS Engagement Toolset To Improve Insurers’ ROI
IMS (Insurance & Mobility Solutions), a top global provider of connected car data solutions, is pleased to announce the immediate availability of the IMS Engagement Toolset, a highly-configurable suite of tools that enables insurers and mobility operators to interact with customers in a way that positively influences driving behavior and reduces collision and claim risk.
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Elevating The Insurance Customer Experience
Customers today can easily exchange information about the quality of brands and their customer service. Market power has shifted to the consumer, and in essence, insurance has moved away from being a product that is sold to one that is bought, and the right CX drives that purchasing decision. The IBM IBV shares the results of a global survey of insurance executives regarding their CX initiatives and corresponding KPIs during the pandemic.
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Brokerslink, Swiss Re Collaborate On International Program Administration Platform
Global broking business Brokerslink has launched a dedicated international insurance program management platform to drive the continued growth and digitalization of its international portfolio across the organization's broker network. The Space B IPA (International Program Administration) platform has been developed specifically to meet the needs of Brokerslink's brokers in more than 118 countries to manage and deliver structured and compliant international and cross-border programs for multiple policies and insurers from a single bespoke digital platform.
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FirstOnSite Acquires Spectrum Restoration
FirstOnSite Restoration, Canada's leading independent disaster restoration services provider, has strengthened its presence in Alberta and Saskatchewan with the signing of an agreement to acquire Spectrum Restoration, a family run business since 2006.
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Applied Systems Presents Strategic Priorities For Enhancing Broker Distribution Channel
Applied Systems attended CSIO's recent Board of Directors meeting and presented its strategy on digital priorities to strengthen the broker distribution channel and improve the customer experience.
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Rise In Flex Work May Prompt New Pay Models
North American employers expect the uptick in flexible work arrangements to continue at least through the first quarter of next year, according to a survey by leading global advisory, broking and solutions company Willis Towers Watson. Many survey respondents reported that these new arrangements will require hybrid compensation models that for some employers include paying employees based on their geographic home base when they relocate.
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API Working Group Advances Security Model
CSIO's INNOTECH API Security Working Group made great progress on advancing a central security model at its latest working session. Representatives from insurers and IBAC participated in the virtual session.
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Featured job opportunities:

Junior Underwriter
Signature Risk Partners Inc.
Vernon, BC

Intermediate Underwriter - Commercial Property
SGI Canada
Calgary, AB

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

BobTrak
BobTrak builds enterprise software for Insurance and Financial Services providers to help them manage and analyze their distribution channels' books of business. The application is most cost-effective for carriers and large brokers, especially if they have a number of legacy systems. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug For as long as there has been a process to reconsider in a new light, there has been someone to tinker with it and improve it. The term FinTech was coined to describe those using technology as a predominant enabler of innovation. Not long afterwards, InsurTech split away from FinTech. Several companies were in development, but the arrival of Lemonade with the promise to disrupt tenant insurance raised the spectre of larger scale change. This may have been a defining moment when incumbent insurers realized they too could adopt the guiding principals and become those who helped moved InsurTech into the mainstream. An old technology marketplace took on some new characteristics – innovative, customer-centric, agile, capitalizing on new products and approaches – and InsurTech took full flight. The InsurTech promoters adopted the new approaches to bring lots of delegates, and then the meeting industry was in turn disrupted. COVID-19 disrupted the disruptors; they have been busy recreating themselves. What is next? Will in-person events thrive again, be relegated to the scrapheap, or will a hybrid emerge. We shall see. InsurTech is changing the insurance world. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca