Last week, Reuters Events Insurance hosted the Future of Insurance Canada 2021 conference, including a series of panels and round tables where the latest developments in the insurance industry were discussed. Virtual i Technologies took part in the event as a silver sponsor. Ryan McGovern, Chief Product Officer of Virtual i Technologies presented in the event about how the insurance industry can digitize and adopt technology.
Embracing Technology is At the Top
Guy Cormier, Chief Executive Officer of Desjardins, states that what keeps us modern and inventive is not only technology, but our embracement of technology for its power to bring us closer to our clients and provide them with better value, convenience, and flexibility. He then argues that changing consumer behaviour and technical improvements are bringing up a slew of new opportunities. In parallel, Alex Johnson, Head of Insurance Solutions at Quantexa, states that while customers are moving to more digital processes and we want things to be online and automated, there is always a need for customers to be able to interact with human individuals, whether that is through the telephone channel, live in person, or through a broker or an agent. Thus, the ability to be flexible in how we utilize that technology focuses on the automated process, but also recognizes that the customer journey is becoming increasingly essential along the bottom. The potential is to get additional context for the data. It is about automating the correct decision for the right reason. This is about determining which data sets and technologies bring value to which parts of the decision value chain. It is about developing a consistent data analytic approach that assists your operational model in achieving the goals that your company has set for itself. This allows us to draw more meaning from the data, and ultimately, more meaning equals deeper insights, and this is all about getting greater insights into your customers and third parties, the persons and organizations with whom we do business on a daily basis.
Data is the Key to the Change
Moreover, Anne Foat, Director at Global Digital Transformation Office of SunLife, argues that data has been and will continue to be a tool that may bring significant beneficial change to the insurance industry in the form of improved customer service, more efficient price premiums, and a reduction in total harm caused by fraud. Long before it was fashionable, the insurance industry has been responsible data stewards for almost 100 years. We can properly utilize data to improve our clients’ health and well-being, therefore we have a role to play to augment the regulations. But we must do so in a responsible and transparent manner, incorporating themes such as accountability, a global perspective, clearly defined values and interests, client choice and control, and considerations for de-identified data, third-party data, and all of the necessary implications for data portability.
Building Beneficial Partnerships?
Furthermore, Daniel Shum, Senior Partner and GBS Insurance Practice Leader at IBM, contends that while small businesses and start-ups are not afraid to experiment with new methods, the incapacity of major companies to adapt to this is another issue slowing digitalization, and the answer is to building partnerships.
As Virtual i Technologies, we strive to revolutionize the insurance industry via our embrace of digitalization and technology, our vision of extracting meaning from data, and the formation of beneficial partnerships with major and well-established insurance firms.
