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Novarica's "Hot Topics for Insurance 2016" report includes survey information from its 116-member CIO council on social, mobile, analytics, big data, cloud and digital. Read on for insight from president and CEO Matt Josefowicz.
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Social media

Though the marketing focus for this technology has kept it out of the CIO's hands for some time, Novarica sees more deployments of internal social media networks for collaboration, as well as analystis of social media data, driving investment.
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Mobile

Only one-third of surveyed insurers have live mobile capabilities for distributors, policyholders and adjusters, according to Novarica -- but more have active or planned pilots.
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Analytics

Deployment of anlaytics is generally strong across the industry, but there is a gap in the analytics capabilities between larger and smaller insurers, Novarica says. Getting the tech into core processes like underwriting and claims is a challenge for smaller companies.
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Big data

Few insurers are equipped to handle big data, according to the Novarica poll. Click here to read more from Josefowicz on how insurers are missing out on big data's value.
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Cloud

Deployment rates for cloud, especially in ancillary applications like financials, HR, and CRM, are healthy, with more insurers looking into the technology for core systems, according to Novarica.
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Digital strategy

Finally, unifying all these technologies is "digital strategy," which Novarica finds has different meanings to different carriers. However, "there’s growing unanimity that this area is definitely comprised of agent and policyholder e-business, as well as corporate sites and online marketing," the company writes.