Novarica has formed a new alliance with the IoT Insurance Observatory, a self-described global “think tank” focused on telematics and the Internet of Things, to improve adoption rates of the technologies in North America.
The IoT Insurance Observatory is a consortium of insurers and tech firms founded by the North American Connected Insurance Observatory in 2016, and brings industry members together for workshops to discuss internal findings and brainstorm innovative ideas.
The partnership was announced during a meeting held at Swiss Re's Toronto office, Thursday.
“One big issue related to adopting IoT is the synergy between the technology and carriers’ broader enterprise IT strategy around digital, analytics and core systems,” said Matthew Josefowicz, president and CEO of Novarica. “We will bring expertise in those areas, while The Observatory offers valuable IoT knowledge to our clients.”
According to Josefowicz, IoT is a new, evolving space in the U.S.; a broad category deriving data from sensors. While the opportunities related to the technology are endless, use cases for carriers vary as they weigh how to best apply telematics, connected home devices or wearables in the life or commercial sectors.
North America currently lags in IoT and Telematics adoption compared to Europe, where the maturity of the offerings is more directly tied to market needs. As an example, usage-based insurance offerings in the U.S. are predominantly tied to premium discounts. Overseas, better access to roadside service is a common value proposition for customers.
“Insurers have to design compelling value propositions, and tie them to meaningful benefits for the buyer and company,” Josefowicz concluded.
