Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FULL TEXT
Technology has transformed every sphere of the world we live in and is arguably the single biggest force changing
human behaviour and the nature of business...
Up until now, life insurers have been hard at work bringing speed and efficiency to the customer experience. But
by-and-large, the industry still has a long way to go in fully understanding and addressing the changing needs of
customers in a tech-driven society, and how these changes impact the way in which risk is assessed, along with
the products and services provided.
Let’s take a look at how technology is shaping the emerging trends influencing the insurance industry, the impact
of which we are already starting to see.
Predicting the future through genomics
At home and abroad, customers are much more informed than ever before about their potential health risks
through digital tools like genomic DNA testing, which predicts disease risk.
On one hand this promises to positively impact the development of preventative measures. On the other, this is
also likely to have a significant bearing on the insurance industry as customers may use that information to select
against their provider, being privy to information which an insurer does not have when assessing that risk. This
may influence the industry’s approach to underwriting, product design, pricing, policy wording and claims.
We are living longer
Technology not only supports preventative medicine but will increase the development of early treatment plans.
This has a major impact on longevity. In their book, The 100 Year Life, Andrew Scott and Lynda Gratton write about
how people born today will live to 104. And with continued medical advances, these figures will continue to grow.
These changing age and life expectancy patterns have seen a growing number of individuals re-evaluating the
traditional approach to work and retirement, with many anticipating to work well past 65. Yet, despite this, much of
the insurance industry’s thinking around retirement planning is still based on the assumption of working until 65
and dying at 90. The fact that many will probably retire at 75 instead of 65 has major implications, not only on
retirement planning, but also on the choices customers need to make in preparation for that time, like protecting
one’s income ahead of retirement. It’s vital the insurance industry adjusts to meet this trend, with product
solutions that match the needs of an aging income earner.
Changing workforce
The jobs of yesterday aren’t the jobs of today. And the careers of today won’t be the careers of tomorrow. Contrary
to many people’s fears, technology and robotics are sure to see a change in the way we work, not necessarily in the
quantity of jobs available. Advancing technology sees the creation of new occupations that didn’t exist a decade
ago, such as professional drone operators. The future belongs to those who are willing to adapt.
According to a 2019 World Development Report¹, “Overall, technological change that replaces routine work is
estimated to have created more than 23 million jobs across Europe from 1999 to 2016, or almost half of the total
increase in employment over the same period.”
Technology has liberated many people by facilitating the creation of jobs through working online or joining the so-
called gig economy, defined as “a labour market characterised by the prevalence of short-term contracts or
All rights reserved. © 2019. Bizcommunity.com Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).
DETAILS
Location: Europe
Company / organization: Name: LinkedIn Corp; NAICS: 518210; Name: Freelancers Union; NAICS: 813930
Copyright: All rights reserved. © 2019. Bizcommunity.com Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc.
(Syndigate.info).