Special Episode: Full Digital Ambition. Building a digital-first marketplace

Building a fully digital marketplace for insurance in London has
been a tantalising long-term goal for all of my 30-year career.
Only too often this has proved a mirage that has turned to sand
as the market got close. Dare I say it but this time things seem
very different. Now robust core standards are providing
foundations of solid rock upon which the market can build with
greater confidence. Technology is also more advanced and more
readily available at a much more reasonable cost. Today even the
smallest player can jump ahead without busting the bank. Indeed
the biggest obstacle to accelerated change is now cultural. And
that is where the biggest transformation has taken place – in the
minds of market leaders. Now instead of the technologists trying
to drag the market kicking and screaming towards modernisation
change is starting to be demanded of technologists from
practitioners themselves. The stars are finally coming into
alignment. That’s why I am delighted I could talk to three highly
experienced insurance technology experts about this. Kirstin
Duffield is CEO of Insurance software business Morning Data and
is an advisor to the London Market Data Council, Hélène Stanway
also advises the Data Council and is a strategic adviser at r10
Consulting as well as being a senior counsel to numerous other
tech bodies. Finally Marcus Broome, is Chief Platform officer at
insurance trading platform Whitespace. All have experience
providing technological solutions to the Insurance market going
back to the early-to mid-1990s. These people have been at the
heart of London’s digital journey for the last 25-30 years. They
are technologists steeped in deep insurance understanding and
their cumulative knowledge of every step and mis-step that the
market has taken in that period is second to none. Luckily for
you and me they are also a trio of concise and passionate
communicators who know how to speak to laypeople. So what follows
is a really useful run through of the current market
modernisation programmes that dispels a lot of myths and clears
up a lot of misunderstanding we might all have about what exactly
the latest reforms are and the benefits they might bring to the
market. I found it really inspiring and helpful and I’m sure you
will too. After this encounter I feel much more confident that
the first fully digital fruits of the last 30 years’ labours may
finally be within our grasp, particularly if these three have
anything to do with it. NOTES: Two acronyms got through
unexplained. PAS is a Policy Administration System And GLRC
standards refer to the Global Reinsurance and Large Commercial
Carrier electronic standards produced by ACORD. LINKS We thank
Whitespace for its support today https://www.whitespace.co.uk/