What’s New: In Brief (April 01, 2008)

Chief information officers (CIOs) for US insurers are more concerned about the impact of a soft market than their European counterparts, according to a Celent report.
In Insurance CIO/CTO Pressures, Priorities Projects, and Plans 2008: The View Across the Atlantic, Celent surveyed insurance executives on both sides of the Atlantic.
Survey responses show that CIOs in the United States rank their concern about growth in a real or feared soft market in the coming year at the top of the list.
In Europe, ease of doing business and a corresponding focus on improving operations and technology remain the key issues, a Celent release says.
Both U.S. and European insurers are in an assessment and limited deployment mode for Web 2.0 technologies, it adds. The most frequent deployments were aimed at better Web site usability and facilitating communication within teams and with external partners.