IUA publishes future tech insight

The deployment of 5G wireless networks is likely to be the single biggest technological change for society over the next few years...

This is because it will act as an enabler, laying the foundations for many other new developments – from communication using 3D holograms to augented reality glasses.

That is just one prediction to emerge from a comprehensive look into the future published by the International Underwriting Association’s Developing Technology Monitoring Group. Its latest piece of research is based on an in-depth interview with Amelia Kallman, a leading futurist, speaker and author who regularly advises business and government on the impact of new technology.

The new report is titled ‘New Year, New Tech: what will insurers be asked to cover in 2020?’ It analyses prospects for a host of developing technologies such as the augmentation of human bodies and the emergence of brain computer interfaces. Also discussed are potential risk exposures arising from a rush to market of products with minimum cybersecurity standards, privacy concerns around the growing use of biodata and addiction to electronic-sports.

Tom Hughes, market services executive at the IUA and secretary of the DTMG, said: “The pace of technological change in the modern world can be quite dizzying, yet for insurers it is vital to stay on top of new trends. This new report attempts to pick out some of the major developments that our industry needs to keep an eye on.

“Making predictions about the future is never an easy thing to do, but our interview seeks to discuss which technologies might be a mere flash in the pan and which are likely to have longer term implications. Insurers are well aware that they need to learn, prepare and act to provide suitable policies for clients and their fast-moving technology-related exposures.”

The IUA Developing Technology Monitoring Group was first established in 2016 in order to harness expertise and interest in new technologies from across a number of traditional lines of business. It has hosted annual seminars and published a number of research interviews examining topics such as autonomous vehicles, aviation drones and on-demand insurance.