<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Accenture Technology</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>As 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</em></strong>.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.”</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>“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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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,”&nbsp;he says. The Technology Vision identifies five key trends&nbsp;that companies will need to address over next three years to accelerate and master change in all parts of the business:</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>STACK STRATEGICALLY</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Architecting a better future</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Companies 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>MIRRORED WORLD</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>The power of massive, intelligent, digital twins</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Growing 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&nbsp;of the physical world is represented in digital space—with&nbsp;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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>I TECHNOLOGIST</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>The democratization of technology</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Technology 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>ANYWHERE EVERYWHERE</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Bring your own environment</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>At 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>FROM ME TO WE</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>A multiparty system’s path through the chaos</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>With 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><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></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Ian Thompson, CEO of QSure</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>COVER 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.</em></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>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?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Ian:</strong> 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>It has a whole host of knock on effects, how clients are&nbsp;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&nbsp;monthly on a debit order. That environment has become&nbsp;so much more dynamic and flexible around the various&nbsp;permutations. So it’s really us, as a collection agency,&nbsp;being able to support that value chain in flexibility, measuring cost versus efficiency, to be able to get the&nbsp;most improved collections from a insurer point of view.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>So an exciting environment with us definitely looking&nbsp;forward to the challenge. I would say one thing about&nbsp;COVID; if you had asked me in 2019, whether I would&nbsp;acquire a business and take ownership in the middle of&nbsp;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&nbsp;opportunity in adversity and we really came through this very much stronger than we entered the whole COVID exercise.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>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?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Ian:</strong> 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>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.</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Ian:</strong> 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>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?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Ian:</strong> 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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Andre Symes, Genasys Technologies</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>The 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.</em></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>At our recent Insurance Innovation Journey webinar&nbsp;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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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&nbsp;COVID hit. Effectively, they were not able to adapt fast&nbsp;enough. It is exactly this step change that we need to be able to make to stay relevant and survive.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Right now I’ve got a USB cable plugged into my laptop, and I can access my Garman and my phone, etc, from&nbsp;there, with one connecting port. That is effectively what&nbsp;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&nbsp;between different systems.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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&nbsp;API-first approach. That’s super important when looking&nbsp;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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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&nbsp;effectively just using tech for the sake of tech. And that is&nbsp;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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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?</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>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.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --><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><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p></p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Hemant Harie, Managing Director of Gabsten Technologies</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>Data in the healthcare sector is heavily regulated, with numerous laws and regulations governing how data needs to be processed, protected and retained.</em></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>This has become more important than ever in light of the Covid-19 crisis, which has made healthcare data an increasingly attractive target for cybercrime. However, the pandemic has also highlighted the need to be able to analyse and share data effectively, as the world strives for improved treatment protocols and ideally an effective and safe vaccination. Data management has become a critical tool to unlocking the value of healthcare data, during the pandemic and beyond.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>MANY REGULATIONS MAKE HEAVY WORK</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>In South Africa the Healthcare Professions Council of South Africa’s (HPCSA) guidelines state that medical&nbsp;records must be stored for at least 20 years. In addition,&nbsp;the Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act stipulates minimum requirements for maintaining privacy when it comes to processing personal information.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>There are also international laws like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) enacted by the USA, amongst others. Stringent management of healthcare data is critical; however this is vital not only for compliance but also to prevent successful data breaches resulting from cyber-attacks.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>VALUABLE DATA IS AN ATTRACTIVE TARGET</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Healthcare data has always been a target for cybercrime, but we have seen huge increases in attacks as a result of the pandemic. The data stored within the healthcare sector is more valuable than it has ever been, and the volumes have also increased dramatically. From personal records, statistics, to testing and results, finances and economics, healthcare data is critical, so it could very easily be held to ransom. Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet solution to mitigating attacks, fending off ransomware and protecting patient information. Best practices around data management are the only answer, with high availability, effective backups and disaster recovery forming the crux. Whether data is stored in the cloud or on premises, this is essential.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>UNLOCKING THE VALUE OF DATA</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Data management is an essential component of compliance endeavours. It is impossible to understand what laws a provider might be breaking if they do not know what data they have, where it is stored and how it is used. However, data management goes beyond this, because without understanding, not only can data not be protected, it has no value and can actually be a liability.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>In a time where data is the key to fighting a pandemic that brought the world to its knees, it is imperative to be able to share information across the healthcare sector. However, it needs to be shared safely, which is why data management is critical. Without security and management protocols in place, vulnerabilities are created, which could have devastating consequences.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Data management provides not only the necessary backup, recovery and high availability, it also delivers the indexing and analytics needed to unlock value and help to save countless lives and economies.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --><h4><a href="https://cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Gabsten-tech.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><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p></p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Patrick Ashton, Managing Executive at SilverBridge Holdings</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>The global intelligent process automation (IA) market is expected to top $14 billion by 2024. However, the insurance industry has, in some instances, been slow in reacting to the opportunities presented by the technology.</em></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>This is not altogether surprising given insurers’ historic slower pace in adopting new technologies when compared to the banking sector for example.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Unlike robotic process automation (RPA), which can be considered a more mechanical process that frees up&nbsp;staff from repetitive job functions, IA combines RPA and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to empower the&nbsp;intelligent automation of business processes.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>For insurers, part of IA sees intelligence injected into those business processes that focus on critical decisioning points such as underwriting and claims.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>So, while RPA relies on algorithms that can replicate keystrokes and greatly assist businesses with high&nbsp;volumes of transactions, IA includes a specific focus onautomating decisioning in business processes.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Fortunately, the lockdown has contributed to a momentum shift with insurers realising they can no longer rely on traditional, paper-based processes. Instead, the focus has been on digitising as much data as possible, a critical step before any form of automation can be implemented.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>A MATTER OF IP</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>And yet, when it comes to the decisioning process, insurers still view it as a fundamental component of their intellectual property. One can understand the thinking behind this given the amount of time spent training&nbsp;individuals to become experts in their fields. After all, the&nbsp;potential exposure when calculating risk and performing underwriting functions can number in the millions of Rands if done incorrectly.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>The reluctance to automate human expert decisioning with AI is evident. But this does not have to be the case. AI can be used to model the most highly skilled underwriters and claims experts within the insurer and has the added&nbsp;benefit of being available 24x7 which dramatically speeds&nbsp;up historically slow processes, often subject to tight SLAs. This greatly improves the customer experience as self- service solutions can be introduced where people can manage their policies at a time convenient for them.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Given their nature, insurance companies are risk averse and generally slower to adopt new technologies. They are generally reliant on their ‘human experts’ and are hesitant to replace them with automated solutions. But the need to use these experts’ time more efficiently will gradually see insurers embrace IA, thereby freeing up resources now capable of delivering more strategic functions inside the organisation.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>CUSTOMER-DRIVEN</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>It could very well be the focus on customer-centricity that delivers the final push needed for insurers to fully adopt IA. By improving manual and multiple step processes through automation, employees can be repurposed for other, higher valued tasks. Real-time decisioning through AI can, for example, reduce the number of fraudulent claims. This, in conjunction with other more efficient administrative processes, will bring about a reduction in product pricing that will lead to happier customers and ultimately an increase in profitability and improved market competitiveness.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":4} --><h4><a href="https://cover.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Silverbridge1.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><!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Stephen Richardson, Market Consultant at SSP</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong><em>COVER spoke to Stephen Richardson, Market Consultant at SSP, to unpack the covid 19 pandemic&nbsp;</em></strong><strong><em>and get his thoughts on the future on the insurance industry moving forward.</em></strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>COVER: You recently published a whitepaper titled “After the Shock: Insurance in 2021 and Beyond”. It made for very interesting reading. Please tell me a bit about what led to you actually going into all the research for a paper like that?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Stephen:</strong> It was a realisation that COVID-19 was going to cause a significant market shock. Whenever there is a major economic or market shock, the successful organisations are those that react to it, and then navigate the changing market in which they find themselves. If you think back, the last major shock we had was in 2008 with the global financial crisis. Insurance reacted by becoming quite insular, focusing on the products and new regulations, reigning in spending. That’s a trend that many analysts think led to the rise of the insurtech; they attempted to fill the customer-centric void that was left by the incumbents. So I was interested to know - after another shock ten or so years on - had the industry learned any lessons from 2008? How were they going to react to this specifically?</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>COVER: Obviously a lot of work went into compiling this. Please give us some insight into your process?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Stephen:</strong> The key to any good report is multiple streams of research and multiple sources from which you derive information. There’s around 50 references in this - including many analyst reports, speaking to executives at insurance companies, and looking at what major industry players and influencers are speaking about on LinkedIn. As I work for a technology company, I also have the advantage of asking my colleagues in the sales and account management teams what are they seeing in terms of customer demand too.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Using all of those inputs – and bearing in mind that all of&nbsp;these sources have their own agendas, I applied critical&nbsp;thinking and my own evaluations to collate my findings. It was definitely not a regurgitation of existing analysis. The&nbsp;aim was to bring something new to the table, as well as sharing others’ insights.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>COVER: Personally, I definitely found lots of new insights. What was the most exciting stuff that came out of that for you?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Stephen:</strong> The good news is that my findings seem to show that insurance companies have learned from 2008. What we’re seeing right now in response to COVID-19 is greatly accelerated digital transformation. I suspect we’re going to see about five years’ worth of innovation in the next 12- 18 months. In my report, I highlight these innovation trends across three key market segments: personal lines; SME insurance and; the commercial lines space.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3><strong>PERSONAL LINES</strong></h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>These trends are very customer-centric and are largely driven by what-are-called digital ecosystems. Insurers are partnering with a network of complementary products, services, and technologies to deliver improved customer experiences. This might manifest itself in:&nbsp;shorter online journeys; the types of online web journeys; flexible insurance; personalised insurance. Even the most&nbsp;innovative insurers are creating these holistic propositions that extend beyond insurance to include additional services and, sometimes, even moving away from the model of carrying risk to becoming orchestrators of risk- prevention services. There is a real change in the model.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3>SME INSURANCE</h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>There is a real battle between brokers and direct insurance for distribution. Small business owners basically value two things - advice, and a simple buy-in journey - because they’re time-poor. Direct insurance has the simple buy-in journey done well... but they lack the advice. And so what they’re doing is infusing the advice into the web journey. Where brokers need to adapt is to improve their web journey to make it easier for these time-poor small business owners to purchase insurance.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --><h3>COMPLEX COMMERCIAL</h3><!-- /wp:heading --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Insurers here have a very different focus: it’s on improving underwriting profit and profitability by analysing risks at individual and portfolio level, through using internal data insights as well as external data around markets and climates to improve underwriting decision-making and ultimately drive greater profitability. To summarise the three at very high-level and across all of the segments, there are three key technologies that emerge: the use of data; the Internet of Things; and APIs that enable ecosystem integration.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>COVER: Did you find that there’s a serious commitment now to try to be part of this evolution?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Stephen:</strong> Absolutely. I think there are various things around COVID-19 that have forced insurance companies to innovate. Let’s consider motor insurance. Previously a twelve-month fixed policy was fit for purpose – when twelve months looked the same. Except now, suddenly people are working from home half the time and cars just sit on their driveway – they’re only using it for essential food shopping but are having to pay the same insurance premium that they paid pre-COVID. Back then I was driving all the time – this policy seems unfair to the customer. I think this will act as a real catalyst for insurers to evolve: if you offer a flexible product that can be scaled up or down in terms of the cover, that fully reflects the changing circumstances in people’s lives.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p>Consumers are more likely to purchase that sort of product because it seems much more customer-centric and far more personalised to them. There’s already multiple examples of that business model in the market. In the SME space, there’s increased risks of cyber-attacks being another catalyst. The commercial lines market is&nbsp;hardening. These aftershocks brought about by COVID-19&nbsp;are driving real change.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>COVER: I suppose people are thinking about risk in a different light - realizing that risk is an important factor to consider in the business. So where to from here, Stephen? What are you doing with the whitepaper and who will benefit from this?</strong></p><!-- /wp:paragraph --><!-- wp:paragraph --><p><strong>Stephen:</strong> We have already distributed this to over 1000 industry professionals that we know and speak with – and by, of course, sharing this through you and the readers of COVER magazine. So this is a direct message to your readers. If you read the whitepaper and find there’s something you’d like to chat through then please get in touch. I’ll be more than happy to jump on a call to give some free consultancy. I wrote this paper ultimately because I’m passionate about insurance companiesthriving – and to do that you must innovate with the right information as your compass.</p><!-- /wp:paragraph -->