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The Agents Council for Technology (ACT), part of ACORD, is updated its list of technology trends insurance agents and their carrier partners must recognize in order to stay relevant in a more digital world. Here are the top seven items to watch from the 2015 Hard Trends report:
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Mobility

“Equal emphasis needs to be on mobile solutions that connect insureds to both the agency and carrier, as well as mobile solutions that connect agents to carriers,” ACT writes.
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Social Culture/Digital Transformation/Internet of Me

“Consumers have taken social interaction to a higher level… It is important to provide value through educating, informing and engaging clients and prospects. This can include demonstrating thought leadership and subject matter expertise,” ACT says.
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Connected Society

“Connected consumers are empowered through changing technology to interact with the social and physical world around them, and thereby shape how businesses respond,” according to ACT.
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Demographic/Segmentation & Personalization

“What would an agency look like with producers, service reps and owners from 23 to 73 all working together within agencies and interacting remotely/virtually?” ACT asks. “We are being challenged to offer clients a personalized customer experience that is tailored to their segmented group, whether that group is determined by language, age or ethnicity.”
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Growing Availability of Big Data and Actionable Business Intelligence

“New technologies and techniques are enabling the capture and analysis of more and more data (big data) and the creation of more useful Business Intelligence from it. Agencies and carriers are able to integrate this business intelligence into their decision-making in real time, enabling them to understand their consumers and operations better,” ACT explains. “Using BI and analytics, an agent can predict when a consumer is likely to have a need rather than waiting for them to reach out or making a cold call.”
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Changing Nature of Insurance Risk

“Changing social norms, applications of technology, climate change and all of the trends noted above and more are changing the types of risks that consumers and businesses are facing. This is creating new opportunities for insurance carriers and agents to design new coverages,” ACT writes. “Insurance agents need to advise their clients differently about their risks in areas such as the “sharing society,” information security exposures, cyber liability and the increase in the number and severity of natural catastrophic events.”
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Information Security & Privacy Regulation – Cyber Liability

"Federal and state regulators will increasingly target businesses which have not implemented statutorily required security plans and procedures, and the costs of data breaches will become more expensive to businesses," ACT says.