The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) recently held its 2023 Members’ Meeting and Reception at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. Held in person for the first time since 2019, the event celebrated the accomplishments that CSIO and its members were able to achieve in the past year.
One such achievement is the continued development of application programming interface (API) data standards to address the gap in real-time data exchange between broker management systems (BMS) and insurers’ systems.
CSIO president and CEO Catherine Smola commended the Innovation and Emerging Technology (INNOTECH) Committee and its working groups for developing these standards. In 2022, they were able to publish API data standards in Java Script Object Notation (JSON) for individually rated commercial automobile (IRCA) and commercial general liability (CGL). They also finalized business requirements for 40 new use cases to fully deliver on the 2022 API roadmap.
Additionally, Smola praised the INNOTECH Advisory Committee for publishing the industry’s first API Security Standard, stating that they “alleviated a major pain point” by providing insurers and vendors with a programmable standard that authenticates and authorizes brokers to connect with insurers’ systems via APIs.
Other accomplishments highlighted in Smola’s remarks involved the efforts of the Commercial Lines (CL) working group to finalize requirements to bind multi-operations small commercial business, establish requirements for the small business real estate segment, and create the CL Real-Time Quote Savings Calculator.
Smola also spoke of enhancements to the digital document delivery solution My Proof of Insurance, which include improved speed and security, as well as new functionality for sending digital proof of auto insurance (eSlips) for garage policies. Furthermore, she lauded CSIO’s professional development milestones, revealing that 2022 saw a record 1,400 course enrollments and more than 2,000 webinar attendees. This is on top of the 211 members that earned their CSIO digital member designation.
During the awards portion of the event, CSIO recognized Applied Systems Canada, Northbridge Insurance, Unica Insurance, Van Allen Insurance, Vertafore Canada, and The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company for their commitment to excellence in education, as well as leading the industry in standards adoption.
CSIO also announced the appointment of Michael Lin, chief information officer at Travelers Canada, as the new chairman of the board. With over 14 years of experience as a CIO across multiple organizations, Lin brings expertise in leadership and insurance technology into his new role. He served on the CSIO Board of Directors for four years.
Along with Lin’s appointment, CSIO additionally welcomed three other additions to its board of directors:
Furthermore, the event served as a venue for CSIO to outline its new multi-year strategic plan. Running from 2023 until 2025, this plan will guide CSIO and its members in creating and enhancing data standards, solutions, and services in the property & casualty (P&C) space. It will focus on the following three pillars:
What are your thoughts on this story? Feel free to comment below.
