Malvern, PA (PRWEB) August 15, 2017
The Institutes RiskBlock™ Alliance, a newly launched consortium promoting the use of blockchain in insurance, brought together more than 30 insurance leaders to participate in a two-day strategic workshop aimed at accelerating adoption of the technology.
The Philadelphia-based workshop, which concluded August 1, allowed participants to share their perspectives on the potential, challenges and applications of blockchain technology in insurance. The consortium believes collaboration among industry leaders is pivotal to ensuring that this pioneering framework is widely embraced. Participants from organizations including CNA Financial Corp., Liberty Mutual Insurance, Marsh, and Nationwide are already seeing the value that industry-wide support can provide.
“The power of blockchain is only realized as more and more members join in,” said Venkatesh Padmanabhan, principal architect for CNA Financial Corp. “The Institutes are the body to pull this off.”
“Marsh looks forward to working with RiskBlock and continuing efforts to create compelling new blockchain-based solutions that will benefit our clients,” said Mark Cook, global CIO, Marsh.
“It is exciting to see the industry come together in a collaborative manner to address usage of this truly disruptive technology,” said Michael Fulton, Associate Vice President – IT Strategy & Innovation, Nationwide. “By working together, I believe we will see significant long-term benefits for each of the member companies and, most importantly, all of our customers.”
Workshop participants focused on more than just strategy, also reviewing the four proof-of-concept use cases already developed. Other topics covered included architectural requirements, standards and governance, as well as high-impact blockchain topics such as smart contracts, data privacy and data access.
Liberty Mutual’s John Pileggi believes the consortium will play a crucial role in ushering in blockchain technology. He said: “Blockchain technology will disrupt the insurance industry, so it is critical that we work together to control, or at least greatly influence, this disruption. By bringing together many key players for an open discussion about how we can partner in leveraging blockchain for our mutual benefit, The Institutes have provided a great start in this endeavor. We look forward to working closely with RiskBlock Alliance in the months and years ahead.”
“The potential of digitization, and specifically blockchain, to magnify our industry’s ability to protect and help its diverse client base is especially significant if we come together as a unified industry,” said Peter L. Miller, CPCU, president and chief executive officer of The Institutes. “The collaboration and progress on proof-of-concept use cases demonstrated during the RiskBlock workshop are further validation that there is significant industry support behind both the consortium and building a truly robust insurance blockchain application.”
Industry excitement around blockchain continues to grow, as evidenced by the consortium’s recent selection as Insurance Innovator semifinalist at the 2017 ACORD Insurance Innovation Challenge (AIIC) in Chicago on July 26. The Institutes RiskBlock Alliance will compete with two other semifinalists this October at AIIC in Boston.
For more information about blockchain technology and to receive updates on The Institutes RiskBlock Alliance, visit TheInstitutes.org/Blockchain.
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