Latest Tech Headlines
All the headlines from our Tech Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Autonomous Cargo Ships Expected to Revolutionize (Disrupt) Shipping
Jun 8 2017 // BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, is studying the introduction of giant, automated cargo ships to carry everything from iron ore to coal as part of a strategic shift that may disrupt the $334...
What Is Blockchain and How Does It Work?
Jun 7 2017 // First of Two Articles While everyone talks about blockchain, also known as mutual distributed ledger technology, just a few people actually know what this technology can do and how it could someday revolutionize the...
Fort Worth’s InsureZone Adds Surplus Lines Rating Technology
Jun 5 2017 // Fort Worth-based InsureZone announced the release of MGA Pro, which can provide real-time surplus lines rating from 25 carriers. InsureZone purchased MGA Pro in 2016 in order to add surplus lines rating to its suite of...
InsurLab Germany Launched in Cologne to Promote Insurtech Innovation
Jun 5 2017 // InsurLab Germany, a digital hub for the insurance and reinsurance industry, has been launched in Cologne to promote digital innovation in the industry. There are eight founding insurance companies: AXA, Barmenia, Debeka,...
Willis Towers Watson, Tech Firm Roost to Form Home Telematics Testing Consortium
May 31 2017 // Global insurance consultant Willis Towers Watson is partnering with technology firm Roost to establish a claims data sharing consortium to help insurers test the effectiveness of water and fire smart home technologies. The...
High Agency Valuations ‘Not a Fad,’ MarshBerry Exec Tells Conference
May 31 2017 // Valuations of insurance agencies are as high as they have ever been and there does not appear to be any lessening of interest among suitors, according to an industry mergers-and-acquisitions (M&A) consultant. John...
Munich Re, Aviva Ventures Invest in UK Connected Home Insurer Neos
May 30 2017 // Neos, a UK connected home insurer, announced last week it has secured a £5 million (roughly $6.4 million) series A investment led by Aviva Ventures together with strategic partner Munich Re. The strategic investment...
Toyota, MIT Lab Eye Using Blockchain in Insurance Rating of Driverless and Shared Vehicles
May 23 2017 // The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) is exploring blockchain and distributed ledger technology (BC/DL) for use in the development of driverless cars. TRI is collaborating with the MIT Media Lab and other industry partners...
UK Insurer Ageas Uses Artificial Intelligence to Manage Motor Claims
May 19 2017 // UK insurer Ageas has begun to use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help manage its motor claims in partnership with AI specialist Tractable. In what it describes as “a first” for the UK market, Ageas...
How Autonomous Vehicles Will Grow Auto Insurance Before Shrinking It
May 19 2017 // Insurance coverage for autonomous vehicles will bring $81 billion in new premiums to the insurance industry over the next eight years, according to a report from Accenture and Stevens Institute of Technology. These...
New CEO Duperreault Interested in Growing AIG, Not Splitting It
May 16 2017 // American International Group’s President and CEO Brian Duperreault began his first full day in his new job repudiating the idea of splitting the insurer into pieces and simply returning money back to...
AIG Agrees to Acquire Hamilton USA, Partner with Two Sigma, Grow Insurtech Attune
May 15 2017 // American International Group Inc. will acquire Hamilton USA as part of a memorandum of understanding with Hamilton Insurance Group and Two Sigma Insurance Quantified that is designed to further their investment in the...
Autonomous Vehicle Testing to Begin in New York State
May 15 2017 // New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that New York is now accepting applications from companies interested in testing or demonstrating autonomous vehicles on public roads. Included in the fiscal year 2018...
A Risk Pool of One: How Technology Could Make Insurance Obsolete
May 15 2017 // Will technology make insurance obsolete?” That was the stark question posed by William Hartnett, a former Microsoft and ACORD executive, in his opening address to the 2017 Global Insurance Symposium, April 26-27 in...
Tech Talk: How to Use Digital Body Language
May 15 2017 // “When the eyes say one thing, and the tongue another, a practiced man relies on the language of the first.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Agents pride themselves on their sales skills — to meet a prospect...
Experts Expect Simultaneous Cyber Attacks on Multiple Firms: Survey
May 12 2017 // Nine in 10 global cyber security and risk experts believe that cyber risk is systemic and that simultaneous attacks on multiple companies are likely in 2017, according to a study by American International Group. More than...
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Partners with Insurtech Firm to ID Liability Risks
May 11 2017 // Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), the corporate insurance unit of Allianz SE, is working with Praedicat, the Los Angeles-based insurtech analytics firm, to better predict key catastrophe liability...
3 Key Activities to Prepare for Autonomous Vehicles
May 10 2017 // This week’s post has been something of a struggle for me. I’ve had to catch up on a lot of terminology and the progress that has been made in the autonomous vehicle world. In way, it has always seemed like...
Will Technology Make Insurance Obsolete?
May 9 2017 // “Will technology make insurance obsolete?” That was the stark question posed by William Hartnett, a former Microsoft and ACORD executive, in his opening address to the 2017 Global Insurance Symposium, April...
Liberty Specialty Markets Names Chubb’s Gibbs as Chief Technology Officer
May 9 2017 // Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, has appointed Max Gibbs as its new chief technology officer. Based in LSM’s London headquarters, Gibbs will report to Nick Metcalf, president...
