Latest Tech Headlines
All the headlines from our Tech Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Audi Goes Full Speed on Automated Driving, While Competitors Wary of Liability, Regulation
Sep 18 2017 // German carmaker Audi is taking a lead in bringing more automated driving to roads, but rivals seem in no rush to follow while legal and regulatory uncertainties still cloud the technology. At the Frankfurt car show, Audi...
Tech Talk: Speed-to-Value and the AI Revolution
Sep 18 2017 // The term “speed-to-value” has been around as a management maxim for decades but is being reborn in the digital age — and its application for agents today is perfectly timed. Here’s...
Allianz Specialty Goes Live with ‘Insurtech’ for Small Business Brokers, Policyholders
Sep 14 2017 // Borrowing ideas from some insurtech startups, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has a new platform for brokers and their Main Street customers “from barber shops to bakeries and toy stores to...
After Months of Development, B3i’s Blockchain Prototype Is Ready for Testing
Sep 14 2017 // The industry’s Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i) has developed a reinsurance blockchain prototype for a property excess of loss contract—and could be on the cusp of an industry revolution. Unveiled...
Insurtech Firms Often Help, Not Disrupt, Traditional Reinsurers: JLT Re
Sep 12 2017 // A wave of insurtech startups are entering the re/insurance market – but that’s not necessarily a disruptive trend, according to a report published by JLT Re. Indeed, the report points to close collaboration between...
Majority of Americans Don’t Trust Self-Driving Cars
Sep 11 2017 // Fully self-driving cars are set the hit the road within four years, but most Americans aren’t ready to buy them. The majority of U.S. consumers remain wary of the developing technology, with 55 percent of drivers...
EY, Maersk and Microsoft Create Blockchain-Based Marine Insurance Platform
Sep 6 2017 // Consultancy EY, data security firm Guardtime, Microsoft and ship operator Maersk have joined to build a blockchain-based marine insurance platform that will be the first real-world use of the nascent technology in the...
Brokers Bucking Disruption: How Wholesalers Hang On Through Change
Sep 4 2017 // As long as there is an insurance industry, wholesaler brokers believe they will have a role to play. “We will continue to be an important sector – a small sector – but still a very important sector of how...
Ford Working on Self-Driving Technology for Pizza Delivery to Larger Trucks
Sep 1 2017 // Ford Motor Co. is considering deploying self-driving vehicle technology in larger commercial vehicles and is working with multiple partners to put its autonomous vehicles on the road, a senior Ford executive told Reuters...
Robot-Car Drives in Berlin Traffic Like Nervous Teenager with Learner’s Permit
Aug 31 2017 // On a test route in Berlin traffic, an experimental Jeep Grand Cherokee slams on its brakes every few hundred yards, like a nervous teenager with a learner’s permit. In a sense, that’s exactly what the robo-car...
XL Catlin Adds Technology, Excess D&O Coverage for Design Professionals
Aug 31 2017 // XL Catlin has added two new enhancements to its professional liability insurance for architects, engineers and other design professionals in the US, including an expanded professional services definition and Principal...
A Response to Some Insurtech Claims, Part 3
Aug 30 2017 // So far, we’ve dealt with two statements: We do good! It’ll just take a few seconds! This last statement is part of the premise of many in the insurtech space, but it’s also something that we’ve been...
Studies Show Automated Car Safety Technologies Are Preventing Crashes
Aug 25 2017 // Safety systems to prevent cars from drifting into another lane or that warn drivers of vehicles in their blind spots are beginning to live up to their potential to significantly reduce crashes, according to two studies...
A Response to Some Insurtech Claims, Part 2
Aug 23 2017 // Last week, we started a conversation about some of the common insurtech claims. Last week, we mentioned the statement from one particular company about all the good that they do. If you missed last week’s post,...
Beacon Mutual’s New CEO Spero: ‘We’re Within an Hour of Every Policyholder’
Aug 21 2017 // The board of directors of Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, a Warwick, R.I.-based workers’ compensation carrier, has elected Brian Spero as president and CEO of the company, effective in July. Beacon’s board...
101 Sales, Marketing & Agency Management Ideas
Aug 21 2017 // 1. Dare to Break the Mold. We tend to hit a sweet spot of what works for us in agency management and stay there, focusing on the “sexier” sales side of the business. It’s fine to keep what works, but...
A Response to Some Insurtech Claims
Aug 16 2017 // There’s a popular word this year that I’m really tired of. It may not be bothering you so much, but I’ve read it so much that it’s become this year’s “it is what it is” for...
Taiwan Power Outages Disrupt Some Semiconductor Manufacturing
Aug 16 2017 // A blackout caused by a blunder at Taiwan’s biggest gas-fired plant is the latest challenge to an electricity grid recently pushed to its limit and to President Tsai Ing-wen’s efforts to reshape the...
New York’s Wellthie Hires Keise as Chief Technology Officer
Aug 15 2017 // Wellthie, a New York, N.Y.-based insurance technology company offering broker and comparison shopping tools for small businesses and individuals, has hired D. Orlando Keise to serve as its chief technology...
Tesla Developing Self-Driving Long Haul, Electric Truck
Aug 15 2017 // Tesla Inc. is developing a long-haul, electric semi-truck that can drive itself and move in “platoons” that automatically follow a lead vehicle, and is getting closer to testing a prototype, according to an...
