The Chronicle: Issue 2013-02, January 15, 2013


What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?

2013 Conference: New Decade, New Design, Same Quality Focus
After 10 years of producing the premier insurance-technology event in Canada, we are making some important changes to the 2013 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference (ICTC). We have our clients to thank for suggestions which have resulted in an event spanning a day and a half (March 18 & 19, 2013), organized to meet the varying needs of several attendee groups.

The New Social World: Edge Thinking and Inside-Out Collaboration
Social media is challenging existing assumptions. A new school of thought says that we need to move away from core competencies and closer to the 'edge' in order to meet, and engage, the ‘social’ customer. A recent case study shows how world's largest insurance broker is using social media to reshape internal and external collaboration.

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog
The Intersection

an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog


Social Business

Online Insurance Purchasing, by Catherine Kargas, MARCON
Canadians are spending a significant number of hours online: a whopping average of 44 hours per month! That number is significantly higher than the US, UK, French, German or any other national average. While they are online, in addition to checking their bank accounts and email, watching the latest videos on YouTube and visiting various social media platforms, Canadians shop online. In 2010, Canadian Internet users placed nearly 114 million orders and spent over $15 billion.

Technology

IBM Tops U.S. Patent List for 20th Consecutive Year
IBM today announced that it received a record 6,478 patents in 2012 for inventions that will enable fundamental advancements across key domains including analytics, Big Data, cybersecurity, cloud, mobile, social networking and software defined environments, as well as industry solutions for retail, banking, healthcare, and transportation. These patented inventions also will advance a major shift in computing, known as the era of cognitive systems.

Insurance In The Big Data Era: The Power Of Faster, Better Answersby Stuart Rose, Global Insurance Marketing Director, SAS
Big Data is one of the hottest business and tech buzz terms these days. While the term is surrounded by much hype, and the phenomenon of ever increasing data is not new, the real question is how to extract value from the mountains of data available. This is where Big Data and high-performance analytics meet.

IBM reveals five innovations that will change our lives within five years
IBM has unveiled the seventh annual “IBM 5 in 5,” a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and interact during the next five years. Touch: You will be able to touch through your phone. Sight: A pixel will be worth a thousands words. Hearing: Computers will hear what matters. Taste: Digital taste buds will help you to eat smarter. Smell: Computers will have a sense of smell.

IBM expands service to help growing businesses provide global tech support
IBM today announced the expansion of its leading technical support services to now provide small and medium-sized businesses with the ability to offer global technology support to their customers, regardless of their location. As the imperative for businesses to expand into global markets continues, IBM provides them with comprehensive single-source technical support services for a fraction of the cost of maintaining in-house skills or multiple regional service contracts.

Policy Management

Risk Control Technologies: Mt. Morris chooses RC Inspection
Risk Control Technologies Inc., the industry-leading provider of loss control software solutions for insurers, today announced that Coloma, Wisconsin-based Mt. Morris Mutual Insurance Company has selected the RC Inspection software solution to support its loss control operations.

CAA SCO goes live with regul8 reporting solution by iter8
iter8, a leading software solutions provider to the insurance industry, is pleased to announce that CAA South Central Ontario has gone live with their new regul8 solution for Insurance Bureau of Canada and Risk Sharing Pool reporting. CAA SCO will be using regul8 to handle policy and claims reporting requirements that address their automobile business.

Distribution

LOGiQ3: Canadian Life Insurance Industry Initiative Underway
LOGiQ3 Corp., provider of life insurance and reinsurance outsourcing and consulting services, is currently working with key Canadian life insurance industry stakeholders to investigate an industry Advisor Screening, Contracting, and Monitoring Model.

Marketing

eMarketer: Canadian Companies Slow to Adjust to Big Data
While the interpretation of data is one of the greatest challenges businesses face, most see it as essential to remaining competitive. More than three-quarters of companies around the world were already using tools to interpret "Big Data," according to an IDC survey conducted by SAS.

Consumer Information

New Kanetix Travel App Simplifies Vacation Planning
Online financial comparison service Kanetix.ca announced the launch of the Kanetix Travel App; the first app in Canada which allows users to compare rates and purchase travel insurance right from their iPhone.

IBAO urges action on credit scoring after Privacy Commissioner report
Today, the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario is urging the Ontario Government to take action on the use of credit scoring to price home and other personal property insurance. In mid-December, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released a finding which supports IBAO's concerns that proper disclosure is not being provided to consumers when accessing credit information for insurance purposes.

TitleGuard helps protect homeowners from fraud with new property title-monitoring service
TitleGuard Canada is new company offering a proactive land title-monitoring service that will help stop fraudsters from taking control of property titles, and then using them to obtain new mortgages or sell the property outright.

Kanetix expands mortgage comparison service to Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba
Kanetix.ca's innovative mortgage comparison service, which allows people to compare and secure mortgage rates, plus get pre-approved online, is now available in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Initially launched in Ontario, the growth of the company's one-of-a kind online mortgage offering is good news for those who want to do more than just research mortgage rates.

LIMRA: Desired retirement lifestyle unlikely for majority of pre-retirees
Only 48 percent of U.S. pre-retirees (non-retired aged 55-70) believe they will be able to live the lifestyle they wish in retirement, according to LIMRA's recent study. "Pre-retirees are feeling insecure about their retirement future, in part because they have not yet taken the steps to plan for retirement," said Matthew Drinkwater, LIMRA associate managing director of retirement research.

Business of Insurance

OSFI remarks at the 2012 Insurance Issues Conference by Superintendent Julie Dickson
At the 2012 KPMG Insurance Issues Conference, Superintendent Julie Dickson participated in a "fireside chat" where she discussed OSFI's key initiatives to strengthen regulation and supervision of the industry, including enhanced expectations for the industry's governance practices, in the context of an uncertain global environment.

Celent will host 2013 Innovation and Insight Day on February 27
Innovation & Insight Day explores how financial institutions are leveraging technology in innovative ways to differentiate themselves in the increasingly competitive and challenging marketplace. The event covers a variety of best practices and offers a sneak preview into the future trends of the industry. The event also serves as a showcase for the winners of Celent's annual Model Bank Awards and the Model Insurer Awards.

Human Resources, Jobs, and the Insurance Community

InsuranceWorks launches in the United States
For the last 14 years, InsuranceWorks.ca has been the premier web site for insurance job seekers and employers to connect in Canada. With over 32,000 registered job seekers and over 2200 registered employers, we've enjoyed helping employers recruit and helping job seekers find their next role. With all this success and experience behind us, we just launched the same unparalleled service to Americans and look forward to becoming the premier destination for insurance recruiting in the U.S.

Paul Davis Systems Announces a New Network Franchisee
Paul Davis Systems Canada, Ltd., is excited to announce the newest franchisee to join our growing franchise network. Congratulations to Ralph Gottschalk! Ralph will be operating the Paul Davis Systems of Peterborough & Kawartha Lakes franchise providing restoration services to the Peterborough community and surrounding area.


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