Boston, MA (Nov. 22, 2016) – When Novarica published its 2015 report on blockchain, the concept had not yet become relevant to the insurance industry. One year later, “blockchain” has become the enterprise equivalent of a household name. In its latest executive brief, Blockchain in Insurance, Novarica predicts the technology will have a significant long-term impact on insurers across the board.
“While it’s too early to say whether blockchain will have a fundamental impact on how insurers do business, you can be confident that it will become an important platform for some lines in the near future,” said Jeff Goldberg, Vice President, co-author of Novarica’s 2016 report on blockchain. “At its simplest level, blockchain is an open, distributed ledger system that is also secure and reliable. At a more fundamental level, we’re talking about the automation of the most basic value proposition for insurers: trust.”
The executive brief provides an introduction to the mechanisms underlying blockchain, an overview of existing use cases in the insurance industry, and a limited list of startups and established tech companies that will partner with insurance carriers to implement blockchain solutions.
Summary
This executive brief provides an overview of blockchain technology with a focus on the implications for insurers. It covers how blockchain technology works, the impact on the industry, possible insurance use cases, including parametric insurance, blockchains as sources of record, enabling P2P contracts, and others.
It also includes an overview of relevant companies in the space, including Accenture, BlockApps, B3i, Bloq, Chain, ConsenSys, Enigma, Factom, HyperLedger, IBM, Microsoft, and Symbiont.
Several carriers, such as John Hancock and Allianz, have announced projects publicly; many others are exploring the technology in a stealthier fashion. InsureTech start-ups like Dynamis, Safeshare, and Teambrella are building insurance offerings based on blockchain.
Although it is very early in the insurance industry’s adoption of blockchain technology, the long-term effect of may be significant. Especially when paired with other emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, it is an area of potential disruption that insurers should be watching.
Desk copies of the brief are available to qualified media. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
About Novarica
Novarica helps more than 80 insurers make better decisions about technology projects and strategy through retained advisory services, published research, and strategy consulting. Its clients include more than 80 property/casualty and life/annuity insurers. Its knowledge base covers trends, benchmarks, best practices, case studies, and vendor solutions. Leveraging the expertise of its senior team and of nearly 400 CIO Research Council members, Novarica provides clients with the ability to make faster, better, more informed decisions. Its consulting services focus on vendor selection, custom benchmarking, project checkpoints, and IT strategy. More information at www.novarica.com.
Source: Novarica
