Data and information management

New York - Guy Carpenter & Company Inc., a global risk and reinsurance specialist and part of the Marsh & McLennan Cos. has published a report, titled, "Nanotechnology: The Plastics of the 21st Century?," which provides an overview of the emerging science, its potential benefits for the global economy, and associated risks and implications for the insurance industry.A team of technology, environmental and casualty specialty professionals from Guy Carpenter and Dr. Robert Blaunstein, national director of loss control and underwriting manager for American Safety Insurance Co., prepared the report.

Kansas City, Mo. - The Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission added another state to its growing list of members, as Massachusetts became the 28th state to sign the Interstate Compact. Gov. Mitt Romney signed legislation into law today that allows Massachusetts to become a member of the Commission.Currently, 28 states have joined the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission. The compacting states are Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Armonk, N.Y. - Just a little over two weeks ago, Insurance Networking News reported IBM's acquisition of Austin, Texas-based Webify Solutions, which brought the total of IBM acquisitions to three in less than 15 months (See "IBM Sets SOA Sail"). Now IBM is adding another acquisition to the list.IBM and FileNet Corp. entered into a definitive agreement for Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM to acquire FileNet, a publicly held company headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $1.6 billion, or $35 per share. The acquisition is subject to FileNet shareholder approval, regulatory reviews and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Washington - Former Sen. John Breaux hopes policy makers, health care experts and the American public will tune into and participate in a new blog on the Ceasefire on Health Care Web site, www.ceasefireonhealthcare.org.The Ceasefire on Health Care campaign's goal is finding bipartisan "common ground" agreements leading to market based, incremental change to the nation's health care system. The online forum is designed to supplement the Ceasefire podcast series and engage its participants in lively discussion about pressing health care reform trends and issues.

Mayfield Village, Ohio - The Progressive Direct Group of Insurance Cos. is providing a text messaging service to its customers. Progressive customers can sign up to receive up-to-date information about their auto insurance policies through text messages sent directly to their cell phones. Customers can opt-in to receive Progressive Direct Mobile Alerts including payment reminders, sent in advance of billing dates; payment confirmations, sent once payment has been received; and other payment information."A Mobile Alert sent directly to a cell phone makes it easy to know when a payment is due and when it has been made. The beauty of it is the customer gets the information instantly - without having to be connected to e-mail," says Toby Alfred, Progressive customer experience general manager.

Lawrenceville, Ill. - UnitedHealthcare's Golden Rule Insurance Co. is offering its HSA customers a selection of mutual fund investment options as well as a debit card and online account management and bill paying services through Salt Lake City-based Exante Bank.Golden Rule helped pave the way for HSAs when it introduced a medical savings account more than a decade ago. More than 41% of the Lawrenceville, Ill.-based insurer's customers currently are covered by health insurance plans that include health savings accounts. As of June 30, 2006, these customers had accumulated more than $170 million in their health savings accounts; the average account balance exceeded $2,400.

Needham, Mass. - A new market emerging from virtual reality into the real-world global economy is growing by leaps and bounds, according to Needham, Mass.-based TowerGroup Inc., yet remains largely unknown to the financial services industry. This new market is driven by the popularity of "massively multiplayer online role playing games" (MMORPGs) and online "virtual social worlds" (VSWs) - such as the hugely popular Second Life - where the lines between online and offline commerce are rapidly blurring.New research from TowerGroup finds that in 2005, online (nontravel) sales exceeded $83 billion (USD), of which virtual social worlds contributed $1.5 billion. As MMORPGs quickly develop into complete online economic systems, TowerGroup forecasts that the "real world" revenue they generate will reach $2.5 billion in 2006, and that the market will grow to 40 million people spending $9 billion annually by 2010. These virtual games include complete social and economic systems for which players use specialized browsers to engage in a virtual life. Each game provides the potential of interacting with multiple players simultaneously, and on a global basis.

Mount Laurel, N.J. - In an effort to lower costs for its members, simplify employee benefit plan administration, streamline processes, and make it easier and faster for members and employers to manage health care benefits, Mount Laurel, N.J.-based AmeriHealth New Jersey will offer new online capabilities through its Web site, www.amerihealthexpress.com, to its group customers and members, starting in 2007.Through a contract with Mount Pleasant, S.C.-based Benefitfocus.com Inc., AmeriHealth New Jersey will improve its self-service Web site by providing new Web tools to create an online resource for health benefit management.

Chicago - Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans has created a database of claims information (with no personal identifiers) from 79 million lives. Called Blue Health Intelligence (BHI), this resource is designed to help to improve health care quality through sharing critical health information initially with employers, and in the future, with consumers and providers.The secure, HIPAA-compliant database is significantly larger than existing healthcare databases, which may strengthen the movement to greater health care transparency by ultimately providing unmatched detail about health care trends and best practices.

Armonk, N.Y. - In its third acquisition in less than 15 months specifically tied to its service oriented architecture (SOA) strategy, IBM, Armonk, N.Y., today announced it acquired Webify Solutions, an Austin, Texas-based privately held provider of industry-specific software and services for building service oriented architectures (SOA).

WHITEHILL ACQUIRES INSYSTEMSMoncton, New Brunswick-based Whitehill Technologies Inc. purchased InSystems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Register, Dayton, Ohio, Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined company's critical mass will be nearly 1,000 customers strong, including several hundred insurance companies and more than half of the world's largest law firms, according to Paul McSpurren, president and CEO of Whitehill Technologies. Current InSystems customers should expect business to continue without interruption, according to the companies.

August - the heart of hurricane season.The hurricanes during August 2005 changed the insurance industry. In fact, with experts predicting a number of storms in 2006, carriers are taking action-developing tools and programs-to help their customers through natural disasters, especially hurricanes.

Today's consumer is king. With the ability to find an alternative solution for virtually any purchase in a few clicks on the Internet, consumers clearly have the upper hand. They are demanding more personalized products and services that meet their specific needs, and the ability to conduct business through any channel they choose-in person, online or by phone-without sacrificing service.As a consumer, these requirements are perfectly logical. As a business, they aren't that easy to fulfill in an environment where sales processes differ from channel to channel, and where customer data is historical, generally fragmented, and not always relevant.

24-HOUR ACCESS TO FINANCIAL FITNESSNew York-based Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America launched a proprietary Web-based system designed to help financial representatives enable their clients to instantly gauge their financial health and simplify their personal and business finances. The system enables financial reps and their clients to coordinate accounts from a menu of more than 3,000 financial institutions, access copies of important legal and financial documents from anywhere in the world, and get a comprehensive, up-to-date snapshot of their financial well-being.

Late spring 2005, the world learned that a crime ring that included call center employees of an Indian outsourcing company stole more than $300,000 from Citibank customers by tricking callers into giving up their PIN numbers.The news sent shockwaves through the industry, as India was the premier destination for business process outsourcing in the world.

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) continues to gain momentum as an important issue among U.S. life insurance company senior management, and economic capital (EC) software may be the key to successful ERM.In its Life Insurance CFO Survey in 2006, the Tillinghast division of Towers Perrin, New York, focused on how life insurers approach ERM in general terms, their risk management objectives and how they define their ERM framework. The survey also analyzed companies' approaches to establishing EC-the minimum amount of capital that the firm needs to bear its risks-including planned improvements to their existing EC framework.

If the life reinsurance market suffers in its ability to embrace technology, the good news is that it's got a lot to gain by doing so. From a technology perspective, "building the deal," i.e., processing myriad communications between cedants, reinsurers and retrocessionaires, involves layer upon layer of data input and information exchange, integration and ultimate transaction processing.From a business perspective, the drivers-competitive advantage, regulatory reporting, cost reduction and shareholder and broker demands, among others-are as pressing as ever.

Stevens Point, Wis. - Sentry Insurance, a property, casualty and life insurance provider for personal and commercial customers, reported today that personal information on more than 112,000 of its customers was stolen, and that data on 72 of them was sold over the Internet.

Chicago-CS Stars, an operating unit of Marsh, a Chicago-based risk and insurance services firm, today announced that a piece of computer hardware containing personal information of 540,000 injured workers held on behalf of the New York Special Funds Conservation Committee has been found and secured. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has told the company that it is reasonably certain that there was no use of any of the data stored on the hardware.

Waterloo, Ont. - California State Automobile Association (CSAA) plans to launch a pilot program this summer using telematics technology to improve driving safety. Using the DriveSync GPS vehicle tracking system from Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (IMS), CSSA intends to increase the value of AAA membership for itself and other AAA partners, including AAA Arizona, AAA Oklahoma and AAA MountainWest. Rapid vehicle location for roadside assistance and driver safety improvement are some of the areas that will be researched.DriveSync is a GPS vehicle tracking system that tracks vehicle location including the route, mileage and speeds of each trip. As a turnkey solution, IMS manages all aspects of driving data collection, storage, consolidation and reporting using fraud-prevention technology and military grade data encryption to ensure customer confidentiality. The system produces turn-by-turn trip logs, color-coded route maps and driving statistic reports, which can enable drivers to see a clear picture of their driving behavior and habits.