Technology

November 2, 2022

Sanlam Investments to raise further capital for Impact Funds

SA’s best up and coming fintech startups sweated it out at a virtual demo day recently, where they had just 5 minutes each to convince a panel of judges that they should be part of the second phase of the <a href="https://www.alphacode.club/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AlphaCode Incubate</a> programme. The ten startups, which have just completed a three-month programme, competed for one of four places in an extended 6-month programme valued at almost R1,5 million each. Their success, which was validated by their ability to get traction in a short time, unlocks further funding of R500 000 each and tailored business support.Says Andile Maseko, head of ecosystem development at AlphaCode, “Despite a tumultuous year, a number of entrepreneurs saw how they could fill a gap in the market for financial services and related industries. Those selected in the top four earned the opportunity for further funding and mentorship. The first part of the intensive programme focused on entrepreneurship and refining business models. The second phase will focus on revenue generation.”In addition, these startups will be able to apply for seed capital from AlphaCode’s fund that invests in early-stage startups.<h3>The four promising businesses selected</h3><a href="http://www.agrikool.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AgriCool</a> is an e-marketplace that links smallholding farmers and buyers to a fair and reliable market. It offers farmers access to finance, reliable information on improving their production, and it works with both formal and informal markets. Street vendors, retailers, the hospitality industry can get fresh produce delivered, saving them transportation costs. Founder: Zamokuhle Thwala. Video: <a href="https://youtu.be/gyo-IOdzJ-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/gyo-IOdzJ-0</a><a href="https://www.mybento.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bento</a> is an out-of-the-box employee perks and benefits platform. It gives employers a simple and cost-effective solution to offer employee benefits without the cost and administrative burden. Employees are empowered to self-manage their benefits and perks which gives them freedom of choice over their remuneration structure and take-home pay. Co-founders: Claudia Snyman, Dennis Williams, Bryn Divey and Ross Horak. Video: <a href="https://youtu.be/4FU_1buiYYQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/4FU_1buiYYQ</a><a href="https://www.alphacode.club/news/imfuyo-technologies-empowers-farmers-with-improved-oversight-of-their-operations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Imfuyo Technologies</a> is developing a smart farming solution that will give livestock farmers better oversight of their operations at viable cost points. The initial offering will consist of a smart tracker that will collect critical data about cattle location and behaviour. The data is analysed to enable farmers to optimise farming activities. The platform will also serve as a de facto cattle deeds office, providing better traceability across the beef production value chain. Through Imfuyo Technologies, livestock farmers also have better access to financial markets. Founder: Allasandro Da Gama. Video: <a href="https://youtu.be/jSJzGvspE6g" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/jSJzGvspE6g</a><a href="http://matchkit.co/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MatchKit.co</a> helps athletes better commercialise their careers. The platform helps athletes make money, regardless of the status of sporting events. It integrates into existing social media channels and stats to showcase the value of an athlete’s digital audience to potential sponsors. It also offers a plug-and-play e-commerce store where fans can purchase everything from bespoke, branded merchandise to personalised video and audio shout-outs. MatchKit.co plans to add insurtech and transactional / virtual card capabilities to their offering. Founders: Mike Sharman, Shaka Sisulu, Bryan Habana and Ben Karpinski. Video:<a href="https://youtu.be/qKR1IM0QckQ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://youtu.be/qKR1IM0QckQ</a>Dominique Collett, head of AlphaCode and a <a href="https://www.rmih.co.za/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rand Merchant Investments Holdings</a> (RMI) executive commented, “We have been very impressed with the level of drive of these ten startups who applied what they have learned on the AlphaCode Incubate programme as they focused on increased traction. The standard of these ideas gets better every year. It’s been a very intense time for the participants and we look forward to growing the four businesses.”   Almost 200 fintech businesses initially applied for AlphaCode’s Incubate programme which aims to grow innovative financial services entrepreneurs and find the next OUTsurance or Discovery.  Only ten were then selected to complete in the initial three-month programme that provided funding, guidance from performance coaches and a panel of advisory experts, access to AlphaCode’s co-working space, and opportunities to apply for further early-stage investment.  The panel of judges included Willem Roos, former CEO of Rain and former founder of OUTsurance; Raymond Ndlovu, CEO of Community Investment Ventures with a stake in Vumatel; Dominique Collett, a fintech specialist and senior investment executive at RMI; Danie Matthee, the CEO of OUTsurance; and Mcebo Ntombela, investment manager at <a href="https://www.bafokengholdings.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Royal Bafokeng Holdings</a>. “The panel had a good mix of entrepreneurs and corporate execs who understand the digital landscape,” explained Maseko.One of the judges, Raymond Ndlovu, added, “The mix of businesses presenting this year was fascinating - a bit of everything from crypto to sports to stokvels and car repairs. The presentations were of a high standard taking into account the fact that we were all online. Look forward to the growth of all these promising businesses - whether they were selected for further incubation or not.”The AlphaCode Incubate programme has disbursed R32 million in funding to 31 black-owned financial services businesses over the past five years and is viewed as South Africa’s most prestigious fintech startup initiative. AlphaCode Incubate awards entrepreneurial packages to South Africa’s most promising financial services startups through AlphaCode with the support of Rand Merchant Investments and Royal Bafokeng Holdings.

November 2, 2022

IIWC Introduction to Commercial Insurance webinar

Click2SureDog and cat owners take out pet insurance to cover the costs that might arise from having a pet – accidental injuries, veterinary surgeries, prescribed medications. When it comes to households with more than one pet – two cats, a dog – these costs can really mount up.So while it’s still a relatively small sector of the insurance industry, pet insurance is growing fast with the global pet insurance market set to reach a <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/05/20/2036190/0/en/Pet-Insurance-Market-to-Rise-at-8-CAGR-till-2026-Increasing-Awareness-Regarding-Animal-Health-and-Well-being-Will-Bode-Well-for-the-Market-says-Fortune-Business-Insights.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">value of USD 11.25 billion</a> by the end of 2026. In South Africa, this trend is reflected- by the end of 2019, one South African insurer said that over 60% of households it insured had pet insurance, covering more than 100 000 pets.“The growth of pets as a retail category has been exponential, as has the related growth of pet insurance. As one of the leading insurance SaaS platform enablers, we enable both insurers and affinity partners such as pet stores, vets or pet food suppliers to drive increased customer satisfaction and incremental revenues and profits.” <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielguasco/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Daniel Guasco</a>, Click2Sure founder.Read on if you are:<ul><li>An insurer offering pet insurance but looking for a better way to do it.</li><li>An insurer who’d like to add digital pet insurance to your customer offering.</li><li>A brand passionate about pet welfare and care wanting to deepen the relationship with your customers (and bring in some extra revenue)</li></ul><h4>Why the sustained growth in pet insurance? </h4>We can speculate that it’s because pets are increasingly becoming much-loved family members, with more and more households feeling a responsibility to grant their animals the same right to medical care as they do their human family members.Also, during the global pandemic, the bonds between pets and humans have grown stronger. With lockdowns and the new work-from-home lifestyle, more single people have adopted pets – and all of us have spent much more time with our cats or dogs, making us more aware of their welfare. Whether our pet is a pedigree breed or a “street special” with a missing ear and a weird bark, we love them the same – and want to be able to rush them to the vet when needed, without worrying about money.There’s a more technical reason, which is that pet insurance has become more widely visible to consumers, as well as faster and easier to take out, thanks to the fast-growing trend of embedded insurance. This is technology that enables a digital insurance offering to be built into almost any transaction at the point of sale. Two examples:<ul><li>You pick up a bag of dog food from the supermarket and there’s a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6780738497851465728/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">QR code on the pack</a> and an invitation to scan it with your phone and take out pet insurance, with a free month to start (it’s so easy to take up the offer, you think why not?).</li><li>You choose a Rogz harness and leash at the vet, and see that it’s tagged with an offer to take out pet insurance as a Value Added Service (this makes you think about what dog walks can entail, like speeding drivers or encounters with non-leashed dogs; you decide to take out insurance).</li></ul><h4>What makes embedded insurance more compelling than traditional insurance?</h4>Unlike traditional insurance which is something they might look into later, whenever they get around to it, embedded insurance is offered to consumers when it feels most relevant to them – in the case of pet insurance, just they are shopping for their pets and most likely to have their welfare top of mind, as the above examples show. Since it’s relevant, they are interested – and since it’s easy to apply with a few simple clicks, they do. So, psychology plus convenience are driving what is predicted to be a<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/embedded-insurance-3-trillion-market-opportunity-could-simon-torrance/"> $3 trillion embedded insurance market globally.</a><h4>Three important thoughts to leave you with:</h4><ul><li>As the world continues to worry about Covid-19, <a href="https://www.teleperformance.com/en-us/insights/blog/2021-customer-service-key-trend-empathy-is-the-star">trend analysis shows </a>there is a great need for brands to demonstrate more empathy to consumers; offering easy pet insurance is a way to show empathy for both consumers and their “fur babies”</li><li>Given the sustained growth of both pet insurance and embedded insurance, there is significant revenue potential in positioning yourself where the two meet.</li><li>Whether you’re a traditional insurer looking for a digital pet insurance partner, or a company passionate about increasing insurance cover for South African pets, we can launch your new offering in 30 days.</li></ul>Call +27 (10) 045 4019 or e-mail <a href="mailto:hello@click2sure.co.za" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hello@click2sure.co.za</a> if this is an opportunity you’d like to look into (ahead of competitors).

November 2, 2022

South Africa Ratings Affirmed At 'BB-/B' Foreign Currency And 'BB/B' Local Currency; Outlook Stable

There are two rivers flowing through insurance today: the need for personalisation and the demand for a simple user experience. Telematics is the merging of these rivers. In this shortened version of an article on the role of telematics in insurance, Belinda Felix from Netstar and other industry experts explain how telematics is transforming the industry right before our eyes. Vehicle telematics was originally widely used from a specialised fleet need to track heavy load vehicles and delivery drivers, to something increasingly used by the vehicle insurance sector today. Though some drivers are wary of giving their insurance provider detailed access to their driving habits, many are happy to trade off their concerns for the increased benefits and ease of use the technology offers.There are essentially five broad benefits to using telematics for insurance: <ol><li>More accurate premiums</li><li>Ability to reward (and retain) low-risk drivers </li><li>Accident prevention </li><li>Quick, seamless claims </li><li>Rapid accident response </li></ol><h3>More accurate premiums </h3>For insurers, the benefits are substantial. It is a revolution in the making for an industry that has historically had to rely on educated guesses to rate risk. As Deloitte explains in a recent paper, Auto insurance telematics, The three-minute guide, “Telematics is a potential game-changer for auto insurers, allowing them to decrease reliance on proxy-based measures—such as demographics and credit scores—and incorporate real-time driving behaviors to more accurately measure driver risk.”Telematics takes traditional insurance a step further. Belinda Felix, General Manager for Insurance Markets at Netstar, says, “Traditionally, insurance premium calculations were based on where the vehicle 'sleeps', the make and model of the vehicle, and the age and gender of the insured driver. Insurance telematics measures ‘how you drive’ in addition to the above factors, and a consumer’s premium is based on their individual risk behaviour.” <h3>Retaining drivers </h3>Data is the new gold and telematics is the motherload. With accurate data based on behaviour, policyholders gain some control back over their insurance premiums. As Phumulani Mazvabo, Business Development Executive at Khanyisa Risk Services, explains, “Telematics helps us reward the effort and not the result.” Telematics also allows insurers to offer adaptive insurance. Insurance that adapts to real life situations with minimal input from the policyholder. Take the rapid escalation of events over the past few months: “Working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic has made more people review their insurance policies and their premiums, thus you will see more insurance product offerings like ‘Pay as you drive’ and ‘Pay how you drive’,” says Felix, as people working remotely are proactively paying lower premiums by keeping their cars safely at home in their garages. Among the benefits for an insurer is attracting ideal clients by merely having these types of policies on offer. “These policies generally attract lower risk drivers. Usage-based insurance (UBI) has changed the landscape of the motor insurance market and insurers slow to take up the opportunity are at risk of losing clientele to competitors that offer UBI products with premiums aligned to ‘good drivers’,” explains Felix. Read the full version of this article in the Netstar CPD Hub. Apply for your sponsored 6 CPD hours by following this link <a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgifs.africa%2Fnetstar-cpd%2F&data=04%7C01%7CAndiswaN%40netstar.co.za%7C56edfb2cdad34e05e94f08d9030f4111%7C2ae977fc238e491fba435095e226806b%7C0%7C0%7C637544186315718882%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=2kRvVqbIVfQ8nWK%2BUnBbJbkdV4KslC29w3fS0M%2BmzH0%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://gifs.africa/netstar-cpd/</a>. Remember, the CPD deadline is around the corner and seats are limited. Register today!

November 2, 2022

Strategic Digitisation – Commit to the Journey

Accenture TechnologyAs the digital gap widens in the wake of the pandemic, ‘Masters of Change’ will define the future, according to Accenture Technology Vision 2021 - Leadership is critical as every business becomes a technology business.According to the Accenture Technology Vision 2021 , technology was a lifeline during the global pandemic – enabling new ways of working and doing business, creating new interactions and experiences, and improving health and safety. Technology forever changed expectations and behaviors and created entirely new realities across every industry. As companies shift from reacting to the crisis, to reinventing what comes next, the boldest, most visionary leaders - those who use technology to master change – will define the future, says the 21st annual report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) predicting the key technology trends that will shape businesses and industries over the next three years.The report, “Leaders Wanted: Masters of Change at a Moment of Truth,” outlines how leading enterprises are compressing a decade of digital transformation into one or two years. Relying on a strong digital core to adapt and innovate at lighting speed, leaders are growing revenues 5x faster than laggards today, versus only 2x faster between 2015 to 2018, according to Accenture research. The result is a wave of companies racing to reinvent themselves and use technology innovations to shape the new realities they face. “The global pandemic pushed a giant fast forward button to the future. Many organisations stepped up to use technology in extraordinary ways to keep their businesses and communities running – at a pace they thought previously impossible – while others faced the stark reality of their shortcomings, lacking the digital foundation needed to rapidly pivot,” said Paul Daugherty, group chief executive – Technology and chief technology officer at Accenture. “We now have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn this moment of truth for technology into a moment of trust – embracing the power of exponential technology change to completely reimagine and rebuild the future of business and human experience.”Accenture surveyed more than 6,200 business and technology leaders for the Technology Vision report, and 96% of South African leaders report that their organisation is innovating with an urgency and call to action this year. And 97% of executives agree capturing tomorrow’s market will require their organisation to define it. Shaping the future will require companies to become masters of change by adhering to three key imperatives.First, leadership demands technology leadership. The era of the fast follower is over—perpetual change is permanent. Tomorrow’s leaders will be those that puttechnology at the forefront of their business strategy. Second, leaders won’t wait for a new normal, they’ll reinvent, building new realities using radically differentmindsets and models. Finally, leaders will embrace a broader responsibility as global citizens, deliberately designing and applying technology to create positive impacts far beyond the enterprise to create a more sustainable and inclusive world.“Technology and innovation were bound to change the world,” says Willie Schoeman, Managing Director for Accenture Technology in Africa. “The COVID-10 pandemic accelerated the urgency for change and South African business across a variety of industries had to adapt to first survive the storm. Now, true business leadership will come from companies who are willing to embrace radically different mindsets and business models.They will not only adapt their business to the new reality, while rebuilding the South African economy post the pandemic. Leading businesses will shape the new future by harnessing the power of innovative new technologies,” he says. The Technology Vision identifies five key trends that companies will need to address over next three years to accelerate and master change in all parts of the business:STACK STRATEGICALLYArchitecting a better futureCompanies will now be competing on their technology architecture. Enterprises can custom-tailor every layer of it now, but building and wielding the most competitive stack means thinking differently. Business and technology strategies must become indistinguishable. Whoever gains the upper edge on technology stands to emerge as number one.MIRRORED WORLDThe power of massive, intelligent, digital twinsGrowing investments in data, AI and digital twin technologies are giving rise to a new generation of business and intelligence. Call it the mirrored world. More of the physical world is represented in digital space—with models of whole factories, supply chains, product life cycles and more. It’s ushering in new opportunities for enterprise leaders to bring data and intelligence together, ask and answer big questions, and reimagine how they operate, collaborate and innovate.I TECHNOLOGISTThe democratization of technologyTechnology is democratizing. Natural language processing, low-code platforms and robotic process automation are adding a grassroots layer to enterprise innovation strategies. With democratized technology, every employee can be an innovator, empowered to create technology-driven solutions on their own.ANYWHERE EVERYWHEREBring your own environmentAt the start of the pandemic, enterprises ignited the biggest workforce shift in living memory by sending people home and doubling down on technology solutions to keep them productive. In doing so, they have made work possible not just from home, but from anywhere.Leaders must now develop “bring your own environment” (BYOE) strategies to address the security ramifications of remote work, necessary cultural shifts and the evolving purpose of physical office space.FROM ME TO WEA multiparty system’s path through the chaosWith multiparty systems, enterprises can gain greater resilience and adaptability, more seamlessly share data, and set new, ecosystem-forward standards for theirindustries. In the face of the global disruption of COVID-19, they are learning they are stronger together.<a href="https://cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Accenture-tech.pdf" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">Download the article as it appeared in the April edition of COVER</a>

November 2, 2022

Data - The key to digitalisation

Ian Thompson, CEO of QSureCOVER spoke to Ian Thompson, CEO of QSure, to unpack the premium collections environment and get his take on innovation in the insurance industry in general.COVER: Premium collection is a crucial part of how we do business in the insurance industry. There are a lot of people involved and a lot of processes involved. Please give us an overview as to what this environment is like at the moment?Ian: If we think about the last 12 to 15 months, and the broader impact of COVID, it has really sped up the entire process and focus, not just on the collections part of the value chain, but the distribution models as well. And I think that has pretty much moved them downstream where we all need to pay a lot more attention and adapt our businesses to ensure we meet digitization of the broader value chain. Many of our clients, whether they’re the insurers or the brokers, have moved swiftly. I mean, this was a trend that started before COVID and definitely picked up during the past 12 months, especially in how insurers, brokers and UMA’s have adjusted their business processes to be able to meet the challenge that was digitization and non-face to face sales. As a collections agency in the broader landscape, we had to be adaptable, and quite a lot more flexible, knowing that it was always coming, ensuring that we are able to meet the challenging demands from the insurance and the broker community. We need to be able to support them with the ability to do the collections on behalf of the consumers. So the landscape I think has changed fundamentally. I don’t think we will move backwards again and we are definitely going to embrace that change.It has a whole host of knock on effects, how clients are going to be serviced, particularly in their collections environment. Gone are the days of just a standard onesize fits all, sign a debit order mandate, and then collect monthly on a debit order. That environment has become so much more dynamic and flexible around the various permutations. So it’s really us, as a collection agency, being able to support that value chain in flexibility, measuring cost versus efficiency, to be able to get the most improved collections from a insurer point of view.So an exciting environment with us definitely looking forward to the challenge. I would say one thing about COVID; if you had asked me in 2019, whether I would acquire a business and take ownership in the middle of COVID, on the first of May, I might have said I’d pause for a year and reflect on it again. But as always, there is opportunity in adversity and we really came through this very much stronger than we entered the whole COVID exercise.COVER: COVID also led to acceleration of innovations in the insurance industry itself, in terms of things like on demand insurance, and premium holidays etc. This obviously, mean a lot for QSure in terms of innovation and taking advantage of the time. In terms of this changing landscape that you describe to us now, where does QSure fit in and where does your reach stretch?Ian: Historically, as a collections agency, you always want to think of us as at the end of the value chain. The sales process has happened, distribution has happened and then it fires off the kind of servicing model, which includes the collections environment. I think what has happened with the whole innovation, and moving the digitization closer to the engagement at point of sale, it has also moved the whole collections environment right up in front of the consumer, as part of the whole value chain process. In that regard, Qsure obviously had to remain quite innovative in our support to be able to support that digitization at point of sale. As I mentioned earlier, it opened up a whole new genre of collections, push payments, Debbi check, multiple iterations of the debit order collection space, and it really gave us an opportunity. In essence, we’re a technology company. I mean, we like to solve complex technology problems. And the digitization at point of sale gave us that opportunity to move collections much more front and center with regard to the engagement with the consumer. All the while being able to support the insurers in very creative ways as to how they can embrace that digitization, but also ensure the collections part of that very important value chain, is up to date with the engagement from a client point of view.In short, it is really been an opportunity for the collections environment holistically, to move ahead much quicker than we would have done had we left it before COVID. And I’m quite excited about the collections landscape.I think QSure is well positioned to be able to embrace that. We’ve probably been inwardly focused for about 12 months while we digested the acquisition. We are now really excited to move forward and roll out some of the technology innovations that we’ve had to be able to support the broader market.COVER: QSure already has a 25 year history. Now you’ve joined up with QLink, which is quite a dominant, global player in the collection space. This really opens up lots of opportunities for you. Please give us a glimpse of what you would like to see happen in the QSure environment over the next year or two.Ian: So you are quite right, obviously joining forces with a QLink kind of just builds on the legacy that is that solid platform that QSure has. Our new, invigorated branding brings to the market, both companies being strongly focused on the collections environment, payments landscape. There’s definitely some cross pollination between the two entities, where QLink might be further advanced, inside of a debit check environment and there’s definitely a sharing of technology across the businesses, which is generally much better for the broader environment.And then the other part of the landscape that we’re all grappling with is the kind of regulatory environment, there’s obviously been a whole host of changes in the kind of past two to three years, collection agencies have to respond to that regulatory environment, insurers have become far more of an important player in the collections environment, taking on a whole host of responsibilities that historically they may not have. So as a collections agency, Q Link, QSURE, being able to respond and support that. On the innovation side, as I mentioned, Q Link has been in the collection space for about also 25years.And we really feel strongly that that collaborative environment between the two technology houses, to really be able to cross pollinate and move the entire collections conversation forward aggressively. That’s what we’re really excited about, to solve those complex problems for the broker community, the insurer community, in a way that really adds value and demonstrates what the purpose of a collection agency is in the broader value chain that is the insurance market.COVER: Over the last couple of years a lot has been happening with innovation in the insurtech space. From your perspective, how do you find clients’ openness to innovation that you go to them with?Ian: In that sense, COVID has obviously assisted in changing the dynamics of the decision making. Prior to that, innovation was always there but definitely, in ourexperience, there is a lot more openness to embrace the kind of non-face to face innovation related activities that digitization offer. That space has been very active, whether it’s the improvement in the call center space online, even in the collections environment, we have seen a significant amount of innovation in the push payments environment where clients are able to now push premiums. In the good old days, it used to be just a plain old debit order.Now there are multiple opportunities, provided through this innovation, whether it’s a push payment, and then moving over to a debit order collections environment. I think it’s going to be a hybrid, from a collections environment, that supports all that innovation across the distribution options, that there isn’t a one size fits all. I also think that’s the exciting thing for us that, now, your engagement with a client is much more multi-dimensional rather than just this is a one size fits all. Now clients have a plethora of innovative choices as to how they want to pay and the premium frequency that the providers have been able to do insurance on demand.So the innovation on the product set is really driven by the innovation in the collections environment, to support those products that previously were not available. Those are complex and exciting problems for us to solve, definitely.

November 2, 2022

The evolving landscape of Directors and Officers liability cover

Andre Symes, Genasys TechnologiesThe days of all the technology and technology skills sitting inside insurers, are long over. And even the biggest of global insurers are more and more moving to partnerships and collaborating with people that have very specific skills, that have markets, and that can provide them with access to markets.At our recent Insurance Innovation Journey webinar series Andre’ Symes, MD Genasys Technologies UK, and collaboration expert, shared some secrets. Part 2 of this presentation will be published in the next issue.When it comes to ecosystems and choosing partners we should think about dinosaurs, USB ports, cables, or paint palettes. We need to ask ourselves, why have ecosystems become so important? Dinosaurs have been evolving for hundreds of millions of years at a steady pace, and they would have carried on evolving, unless the asteroid hit. That is very similar to what happened last year, when COVID hit. Effectively, they were not able to adapt fast enough. It is exactly this step change that we need to be able to make to stay relevant and survive.Changing legacy systems, takes a very, very long time, it really does. So when COVID happened, we didn’t have the luxury of spending two years implementing a new system, we had to adapt quickly. Think about how platforms and digital services have rendered bricks and mortar companies irrelevant, and how the digital era is enabling us to change quickly. I mean, business schools at the moment are littered with numerous cases about Toys R Us versus Amazon and Uber versus taxis.It’s this digital ecosystem that they can create that enables them to adapt fast for environmental change. This is why ecosystem are so important. Simply put, technology options give us the ability to adapt and pivot quickly. So again, why is this important? Technology ecosystems give us choice. Choice gives us the ability to adapt to change quickly and this ability to adapt or to evolve faster than the dinosaurs could, or existing dinosaurs can, is really what future proofs our business. Nobody can predict the unforeseen or the future, but we can engineer for the unforeseen, and we can architect for it.The question now is, what do we do to enable these ecosystems? How many of us have got a pile of cables lying useless in a bottom drawer. To create ecosystems, we all have to be able to interact with each other. 20 years ago we all had a Sony Ericsson or Nokia or Siemens, etc and none of them could talk to each other and each needed its own cable to connect to computers. It was a nightmare to set them up. At one stage we brought in all these adapters, which brought with them their own complexity. It wasn’t until we created universal connectors like USB, Bluetooth or Wi Fi that connecting systems or connecting devices became easier.Right now I’ve got a USB cable plugged into my laptop, and I can access my Garman and my phone, etc, from there, with one connecting port. That is effectively what it is that we need to have. Now USBs are not perfect, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the cables we had before. And that’s where we want to go with our ecosystems. The USB is the API in the ecosystem. I cannot over state how important API’s are. API stands for application programming interface and is basically just a connector between different systems.Secondly, we need a clear vision for how we want to interact with the ecosystem. We need to have a roadmap that facilitates opening ecosystems. We need to have an API-first approach. That’s super important when looking at how you want to build your roadmap out. However, we also need to be able to iterate and change. I think that’s where my good friend Wimpie from Global Choices brought in design thinking the other day, as part of this series. We need to bring this into our conversation when creating this roadmap towards the creation of your ecosystems.Last, but certainly not least, we need to get internal buy-in from large organisations. It is currently a huge problem where we have large incumbents that don’t adopt the future. They don’t adopt the change or this open ecosystem mentality. They will know we need to do it but, when it comes time to pull the trigger, things stall. That’s when we start struggling with change and we saw, in our COVID asteroid experience from last year that those that were able to change did change, and they leaped from their competition.So it is massively important to make sure that you get internal change management, even to the point where you create innovation teams that can help the traditional business understand the need for this open API’s, ecosystem approach rather than the monolithic approach of building everything yourself and attempting to hoard that IP.Now we know that we need it because we want to avoid the asteroid. We sort of know how to do it because we understand that we have to have interconnection within the ecosystems, but then Who? And there was a question earlier about what the insurer tech ecosystem look like? The question really is, how do you choose out of this? What do you choose? How do you choose, and which partners here will actually create a powerful ecosystem. How do you ensure you don’t end up with something that your company doesn’t want, or that doesn’t add value to your business. I would like to propose a couple of points for consideration, to think about when you are looking at partners in your ecosystem.Firstly, do they improve the customers life, if they aren’t going to improve your customers or your customers, customers life, don’t bring them on board. Then you are effectively just using tech for the sake of tech. And that is rule number one that you shouldn’t do. Don’t ever try and use tech for the sake of tech. There’s a term “Maslow’s hammer” that often comes out in our hypothesis adoption analysis, Take Blockchain as an example.Four years ago, blockchain was the be all and end all solution to everything in insurance and, whilst there has been use case adoptions, it has gone through a time cycle, and it is no longer here. So, quite often, we hear people just using tech for the sake of it, it has to improve your customer’s life. In the end, when it comes to ecosystems, the question is whether they are they going to embrace collaboration?Now, you would think that mentioning ecosystems off the bat, that there is going to be colaboration, but don’t be so sure. In any sort of ecosystem, as well as in the environment and natural ecosystems, there is always a predator. We therefore need to make sure that all ecosystem partners are aligned to the same goal, so that they can all, collectively, add value to the end customer or to the ecosystem as a whole. Andre’ discusses this further in our next issue.<h4><a href="https://cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Genasys-Technology.pdf" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">Download the article as it appears in the March edition of COVER</a></h4>

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