Researchers say India is only just beginning to tap its enormous potential, and stands poised to become a giant in the world economy, with its insurance industry playing a part.

Denver – The Colorado House of Representatives defeated H.B. 1143, a proposal to ban the use of credit-based insurance scores. The bill was narrowly voted out of the House Business and Labor Affairs Committee last week by a vote of 6-5.

Hardware-centric HP buys enterprise software provider Exstream in order to push into the variable data publishing arena.

A recently published study from Diamond Management & Technology Consultants Inc. finds that roughly 33% of organizations prematurely terminated at least one business process outsourcing relationship during the past year.

Stamford, Conn. — Towers Perrin is expanding its reinsurance intermediary business to serve the French domestic market.

New York — Fifty-five percent of well-insured adults go online six or more times a week, according to Experian Research Services. As the insurance industry has the highest customer acquisition cost in business today, an online strategy is necessary to attracting these well-insured prospects.

Washington – The House of Representatives passed H.R. 3959, which would gradually phase out some of the subsidies in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Paris — Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), a Columbia, S.C., provider of insurance technology solutions, will work in collaboration with SUADEO, a French company that provides business intelligence (BI) solutions for health, and risk and protection insurance businesses, to integrate CSC’s health, risk and protection software, GraphTalk A.I.A., with SUADEO’s BI solution, SUADEO Plateforme.

Columbia, S.C. — In business less than one year, EagleEye Analytics, an insurance technology company that concentrates on predictive analytics and data information services, has chosen Columbia, S.C. for its new corporate headquarters.

Kansas City, Mo. — The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) named its 2008 committee chairs and vice chairs.

Presenters at Insurance Networking News’ 1st annual Web Services and SOA summit stressed an incremental approach, and an emphasis on communication when undertaking SOA initiatives.

Wellesley, Mass. — The digital world is transforming the way information is organized and stored, and companies across all lines of business are being charged with using emerging technology solutions to support the customer experience in new and innovative ways, according to experts at an e-business thought leadership conference held January 16 and 17 in Wellesley, Mass.

Margin compression and continued pricing erosion is pressuring the insurance industry to achieve top-line objectives in 2008, according to Ernst & Young's Global Insurance Center.

Alexandria, Va. — When 10 Generation X independent agents attending the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big I) Young Agents Leadership Conference in San Diego this past September discussed their future, technology was at the forefront of their success strategies.

A new Web site marketplace offers insurers and brokers a chance to market their voluntary benefits packages to employers and their employees.

Cambridge, Mass. — Is business rules technology finally hitting its stride? That's the question posed by Forrester Research Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based research firm, which says business rules are now a key enabling technology for dynamic business applications.

The Foundation for Health Coverage Education captured, on a single Web site database, government-sponsored programs to help consumers in need of health coverage. This may be just in time, as California is set to vote on a mandatory health insurance bill.

Despite barriers such as cost, electronic health records are slowly but surely becoming a technological cornerstone of the health insurance

Redwood Shores, Calif. — Oracle Corp. and San Jose, Calif.-based BEA Systems Inc. entered into a definitive agreement under which Oracle will acquire all outstanding shares of BEA for $19.375 per share in cash. The offer is valued at approximately $8.5 billion, or $7.2 billion net of BEA's cash on hand of $1.3 billion. "We expect this deal to be accretive to Oracle's earnings by at least 1-2 cents on a non-GAAP basis in its first full year after closing," says Oracle president and CFO Safra Catz.

Meeting business demands with technology requires knowledge from both sides of the house, a clear understanding of how to execute on well-developed strategies, and a certain amount of finesse. Such was the overarching theme communicated by three distinct-yet-seasoned technology executives at the Celent U.S. CIO/CTO Roundtable, held January 10 in New York.