As with the broader FinTech market, the debate continues about the power of technology shaping InsurTech. This is not just about the hyper-relevant role of data in predicting risk and disaster but equally about the changing technology-inspired business models provided by new entrants.

The topics covered in this part are broad:

• The connected insurer (IoT)

• The growth in IoT and the connected world means that we are witnessing data growth that is unprecedented. The data collected and processed daily from external sources is a key factor in enabling better risk modelling and predicting disaster.

• AI/machine learning

• AI and machine learning algorithms reduce company expenses, expedite daily operations, and lead to bigger opportunities in the marketplace.

• Augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR)

• Using techniques such as virtual or augmented reality to model scenarios for commercial and personal risk are vastly empowering for insurers who are able to use scenario modelling to equip them better in dealing with disasters, claim handling complexity, and growing areas of risk such as those related to climate change and terrorism.

• Cyber security

• We are exposed to news headlines of a new cyber breach daily. Cyber-security crimes have increased globally and have created demand for an entire new area of insurance products. The cover is challenging given the digital nature and hence unpredictable contagion caused by cyber hacking or fraud.

• Drones

• This technology is advancing in leaps and bounds and serving as aerial “guards”, delivery, and fulfilment as well as emergency support tools in natural disasters.

• Blockchain and smart contracts

• These support the ability to speed up service-level fulfilment in the claims handling process and with the traceable/immutable nature of the blockchain can ensure that fraud is minimized.

• Data, data, data

• Insurance is underpinned by data captured historically and stored but then not used to its full potential. The world of InsurTech has offered up groundbreaking innovation in the areas of predictive modelling, IoT, and machine learning in ways that mean that historic data could become an obsolete way to measure future risk. New insurance policy structures are possible using predictive, external, and unstructured data.