Remote sensing, cognitive computing useful tools for insurers, report suggests

Insurance carriers need to change the tools they use to manage risk, and insurance professionals can help clients manage risk by using cognitive computing, Aite Group LLC suggested in a recent research note.

Boston-based Aite Group announced Thursday the release of an Impact Note, titled Insurance: The Next Generation, by Jamie Bisker, an Aite Group senior analyst.

“The world and its risks are growing more complex by the day, and it seems clear that insurers will need to change both the process and the tools they use to manage risk,” Bisker wrote.

One technology he cites is cognitive computing, which “generally refers to a ‘bottom-up’ approach in which hardware or software processing elements emulate the processing of biological neural networks like those found in human and animal brains,” Bisker noted.

Insurers will need the “capabilities” of cognitive computing in order to go beyond “standard practice” in modeling and setting rates, Bisker suggested.

“Cognitive computing will be an essential element of the upcoming change predicted for the insurance industry,” Bisker concluded.

Bisker also included a table of technology capabilities that have either matured or became available in the past decade. Those include data mining, business intelligence, geographic information systems, telematics and remote sensing.

Aite Group describes remote sensing as an “emerging” technology, which is useful for functions such as underwriting, claims and environmental analysis. Aite Group noted in the report that remote sensing can be done from a variety of platforms such as satellites, drones, boats and fixed terrestrial sites. Remote sensing technologies cited by

Aite Group include millimeter-wave radar, ground-penetrating radar, hyper-spectral scanning and sensing and Raman spectroscopy.