Business Insurance Innovation & Technology Issue Sept 2020

Insurers, brokers, technology companies and others continue to roll out new products and services during the COVID-19 pandemic and in many cases the new offerings specifically address issues that risk managers face due to coronavirus-related concerns and restrictions.

The drive to solve problems that have arisen since March this year led to a surge in nominations for the Business Insurance Innovation Awards with a near 50% increase compared with the average number of submissions over the prior 10 years.

To reflect the rise in nominations, we have expanded the number of winners to 12 from 10.

Featured prominently among this year’s winning entries are technology and data solutions to risk management problems that arose out of or were accentuated by the pandemic. The list of winners also includes solutions to a wide array of other concerns, ranging from international insurance program management to cyber risks to injured worker communications.

As has been the case since we presented the first Innovation Awards in 2010, all the entries were assessed and scored by an independent panel of judges composed of professional risk managers.

The 2020 Innovation Award judges were Michelle Bennett, senior director, risk management and internal audit at Cable One Inc.; Delany Haj, senior manager — contracts lead, global risk assessment and insurance at Accenture PLC; Luke Figora, senior associate vice president, chief risk and compliance officer at Northwestern University; Jason Mezyk, senior director at Revantage Corporate Services, a Blackstone company; Jennifer Reno, global risk manager at QVC Inc.; and Carlos Sintes, claims manager at Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc.

The winners will be recognized during a virtual awards event to be held on Sept. 30.

Gavin Souter, editor

September 24, 2020

We sat down with four business insurance executives to ask about innovation in the workforce. The featured executives include:

• Jim Winkler Senior Vice President and Global Chief Innovation Officer Aon Health Solutions
• Joe Tocco CEO, Americas AXA XL, a division of AXA S.A.
• Sean Ringsted Chief Digital Officer Chubb
• Kevin Turner CEO, Catastrophic Care Management Paradigm Corp.

We asked the following questions:

• How does your organization encourage innovation in serving the needs of risk professionals?
• Where does your organization tend to look for innovative ideas?
• How has COVID-19 changed your organization’s approach to innovation and change?
• What percentage of innovation in your organization is inspiration vs. execution?
• What factors does your organization consider in deciding when an innovation is ready for the marketplace?