Data and information management

INDIANAPOLIS--Anthem Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Anthem Inc.'s program designed to help companies maintain an emotionally healthy workforce, has made available a new Web site that provides instant access to various online resources and interactive tools to help employees better manage their work and home lives in an effort to improve or maintain their well-being. "An organization's success is dependent upon a physically and emotionally healthy workforce," said Marty Dubin, Psy.D., vice president, Anthem EAP. "The Anthem EAP Web site is completely confidential and provides streamlined access to a wealth of content and self-service capabilities to help provide guidance when facing life's stressful challenges."

The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. (HSB) has launched HSB InstantQuote, an online tool that provides a quick way to quote and bind equipment breakdown coverage in as little as three minutes. A two-minute animated demo of InstantQuote can be viewed at www.hsb.com.HSB InstantQuote is designed to provide new business equipment breakdown quotes for small commercial and middle-market firms with individual location values up to $10 million for manufacturing and $20 million for non-manufacturing.

SOLCORP, a subsidiary of EDS, and Universal Conversion Technologies (UCT), Addison, Texas, will jointly host a Webinar on data migration best practices . This interactive Web-based presentation, "Policy Administration System Consolidation: Overcoming the challenges of data migration" will be presented live over the Web on March 11, 2004 at 2 p.m. EST.Reduction of operating costs is a top priority for life insurance carriers, and many are investigating consolidation of back-office systems, or migration to a new policy administration platform to address this business imperative. With either of these options, however, CIOs face a data migration project that brings with it a host of challenges. In this interactive presentation, experts from SOLCORP and UCT will present a strategy for minimizing the risks and maximizing the benefits, one that's based on a realistic understanding of the degree of complexity involved in data transformation. The presentation will include a step-by-step migration playbook--from calculating return on investment on the front end to improving data quality on the back-end.

Newark, Calif.--Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world's leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, has announced that it is providing funding for the first visiting research fellowship to be established at the new International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research. The Centre is based at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and was officially inaugurated on February 20 by Wong Kan Seng, Minister of Home Affairs in Singapore.

Conshohocken, PA--eMoney Advisor, a leading provider of holistic wealth planning solutions, today announced the availability of AdvisorPlatform Version 3.5. The new version offers significant upgrades to Version 3.0, which was released in January 2003, including streamlined data entry through the Fact Finder, simulated sales of an asset, "what if" scenarios versus base facts, and additions to the Client Financial Home Page. In addition, the new version includes an updated user interface for greater ease of use.

ATLANTA--Ebix Inc., a leading international supplier of software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance industry, announced that it has completed its acquisition of LifeLink Corp. Inc., adding hundreds of brokers and approximately 35 life insurance companies as customers.

Salt Lake City, Utah--Castle Data Services has signed an agreement with Allied Insurance Company, a member of Nationwide, to provide them with replacement cost data through the use of Castle's online replacement cost estimator.

Exstream Software, Inc. today announced that Richard Troksa has joined the company as vice president of business development. Mr. Troksa brings to Exstream over 19 years of experience in development, strategic planning and marketing segmentation focusing on software and service solutions for the printing market. Troksa will help Exstream expand into new channels and vertical markets by developing and managing business partnerships, strategic alliances and independent software vendor (ISV) relationships. Exstream has developed an impressive number of strategic partnerships over the past several years that include IBM, Xerox, Hewlett Packard and Böwe Bell & Howell, and plan continued growth in this area.

SAN RAMON, Calif.--ADP Claims Services Group, a leading provider of integrated business solutions for the property and casualty, collision repair and automotive recycling industries, announced today Frontier Adjusters, Inc., a national provider of independent adjustment and appraisal services, has chosen PenPro as its auto appraisal software provider.

ATLANTA, GA-- Knowlagent, the exclusive provider of software solutions that build best performers fast in customer service centers, announced today that its largest healthcare customer has rapidly and successfully deployed the Knowlagent Agent Performance Solution to thirteen call centers across the United States and offshore markets.

CONYERS, GA and SAN MATEO, CA- ImageRight, a provider of document management and workflow solutions for insurers, and Guidewire Software, Inc., a provider of claims solutions to property and casualty insurers, today announced the immediate availability of an integrated claims processing and document management solution for the insurance industry. In addition, Guidewire has joined the ImageRight Business Alliance as a Gold Partner.

Nearly 2,700 American technology workers in 12 states will receive advanced information technology job training in the coming months in programs administered by CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association, Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.CompTIA has received two grants totaling $6 million from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration. The H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants are intended to train U.S. workers in specialty occupations such as computer science, information technology, engineering and advanced manufacturing technology.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A report issued by the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) on the use of credit-based insurance scoring found no basis for any conclusion that credit history is skewed toward ethnic minorities or low-income individuals.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. today announced the acquisition of R. P. O'Brien & Co., Inc. of White Plains, New York. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Cambridge, MD--G. Philip Feldman, CEO of technology insurance provider ISG International, announced today that the company has launched breakthrough technology on its CCBsure Web site that provides Businessowner's Property and Casualty (P&C) Liability insurance coverage to independent computer consultants, in real time, over the Internet. No insurance provider has ever offered immediate, automated P&C business insurance coverage before.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa--Fiserv, Inc. has introduced eFreedom Investment Management powered by BasisPoint, a fully integrated portfolio management and investment accounting solution that supports each step of the trading process--from order processing through trade execution, accounting, international settlement support and regulatory reporting. As trading practices become increasingly complex and global, more and more organizations need the comprehensive multi-currency, multi-basis, investment accounting capabilities found in eFreedom Investment Management to track business activity and report to regulators.

Uniondale, NY--OnlineBenefits, Inc., provider of Internet-based HR solutions, announced today that it has entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Digital Insurance to distribute Benergy as an employee communication solution for its clients.

BELLEVUE, WA - SAFLINK Corporation, a leading developer, marketer and integrator of biometric security solutions, announced today that North Carolina-based A4 Health Systems has used SAFLINK's Software Development Kit (SDK) to design and deploy a solution in its efforts to meet new security requirements in Ohio that call for dual authentication of pharmaceutical orders within the hospital setting. The first phase of the solution is scheduled for deployment to more than 500 users at Mount Carmel East, West, and St. Ann's of Columbus, Ohio.

NASHUA, N.H. -- SkillSoft PLC, a leading provider of enterprise e-learning, today announced that Humana Inc., one of the nation's largest publicly traded health benefits companies, signed a two-year agreement to license a SkillSoft multi-modal learning solution. The integrated solution encompasses more than 1,000 e-learning courses spanning a variety of IT technologies and desktop applications; 24x7, online mentoring support for IT professionals; and more than 3,000 online, unabridged Referenceware titles. With multi-modal learning, professionals can access a variety of formal and informal learning resources through a single, unified search and then select the appropriate resources based on information needs, available time, and learning preferences.

ATLANTA-- Connecture, a leading provider of integrated Web-based sales and service automation solutions for the health insurance industry, announced it has signed a national agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), the association for the nation's 41 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurance Plans, which collectively insure more than 88.3 million Americans.