Beyond mobile: research topics for upcoming technologies in the insurance industry

Abstract

This paper provides a first idea on changes induced by new ICT that goes 'beyond mobile'. Main aspects considered are value creation structures, value proposition of products and services and customer relations. Goal is to discuss these changes within the insurance industry context (primary insurers and reinsurers) and to foster thinking on new research topics that might arise due to the influence of Ubiquitous Computing (UC) technology. In order to do so UC is defined in a first step. Hereby we distinguish from notions such as Pervasive Computing (PC) and Ambient Intelligence (AmI) and provide a working definition for UC. In a second step implications of UC in the business context will be described generally, which will be followed by a general description of the characteristics of insurance industry. This will lead to the discussion of scenarios and the potential impact of UC in the insurance industry, providing us with a whole set of research aspects that need to be investigated further in the future. Hereby focus is the influence UC technology has on the business aspects for insurance industry rather than on technological questions arising.

Technologies for value creation: an exploration of remote diagnostics systems in the manufacturing industry

“…The impact of ubiquitous computing on value creation structures, value proposals and customer relations as studied by Müller & Zimmermann (2003) is in this study further developed with the value system framework. Rather than focusing exclusively on the categories identified by Müller & Zimmermann (2003) the whole network involved in the value creation is under critical scrutiny. In the next section, we will explore our research question: how can ubiquitous computing influence businesses in the manufacturing industry?…”

“…In a study of the insurance industry, Müller & Zimmermann (2003) found that ubiquitous computing has the potential to change businesses fundamentally as the insurance companies are provided with real-time information about the customers' behaviour. They identified three areas on which ubiquitous computing has a business impact: on the value creation structures, on the value proposition and on customer relations.…”

“…Even though ubiquitous computing is optimistically forecasted to enable new business opportunities, there are few studies of this technology in business settings (Fleisch & Tellkamp, 2003). Müller & Zimmermann (2003) point to the need for more research on the impact of ubiquitous computing on value creation structures, value proposals and customer relations as the changes may be fundamental, for example in the financial industry. In this paper, we adopt this approach to study the business impact of ubiquitous computing and apply it in another industry: the manufacturing industry.…”

Living in a smart environment implications for the coming ubiquitous information society

“…Insurers nowadays have only limited information about their insured goods or customers. They typically split the insured assets into classes, based on only a few criteria collected before the risk coverage starts [21]. Car insurance premiums, for instance, usually depend only on the type of the insured car, the driver's experience, and maybe the type of location it is usually parked, even though the real risk of having a traffic accident depends on a large range of additional factors: such as the driven mileage, traffic and weather conditions, when and where the car has actually been driven or parked.…”

“…Especially in the area of car insurance, a number of studies and pilot projects have recently begun exploring the options today's technology offers in terms of calculating such dynamic rates. Proposals suggest that car insurances should be distance-dependent [17], or account for various other aspects [10] [21]. This would not only be more accurate, but would also give incentives towards less driving, which potentially could increase traffic safety and might have additional positive environmental consequences [17].…”