The insurance industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by growing demand for digitalisation and personalisation. With growing importance of technologies such as cloud innovations, telematics, machine learning, big data, deep learning, and data science, insurers are overcoming demographic challenges, low penetration rates, cybercrimes and fraudulent claims. In the last three years alone, there have been over 11,000 patents filed and granted in the insurance industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Cybersecurity in Insurance: Satellite-based anti-theft tracking.

However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.

Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.

90 innovations will shape the insurance industry

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the insurance industry using innovation intensity models built on over 65,000 patents, there are 90 innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Within the emerging innovation stage, blockchain-based authentication is a disruptive technology that is in the early stage of application and should be tracked closely. Satellite-based anti-theft tracking, cyber-attack risk analysis, and fraud detection techniques are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are e-payment security protocols and anonymous authentcation, which are now well established in the industry. 

Innovation S-curve for cybersecurity in the insurance industry

Satellite-based anti-theft tracking is a key innovation area in cybersecurity

Satellite-based anti-theft systems installed in automobiles use a satellite navigation system to determine the vehicle's location. The position is recorded when the car is parked and later compared to the car's actual location to enable the anti-theft device to sound an alarm when the compared positions are not identical.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10 companies, spanning technology vendors, established insurance companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of satellite-based anti-theft tracking.

Key players in satellite-based anti-theft tracking – a disruptive innovation in the insurance industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

State Farm Mutual is a leading patent filer in recognising abnormal traffic circumstances from telematics data broadcast from another vehicle. The telematics data is produced by an originating mobile device with a telematics application and is compared to the telematics data of the second vehicle, which includes acceleration, braking, direction, and location information. Some other key patent filers in the industry include Flex, Pictometry, Apogee Technology, and Intel.

In terms of application diversity, Flex heads the list, with Intel and Pictometry in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Intel holds the top position, followed by Swiss Re and Toyota Motor.

Telematics has redefined the way motor insurance products are designed and marketed. Based on how the insured uses the telematics data-based risk reduction capabilities, premium prices are reduced.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the insurance industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Cybersecurity in Insurance.

GlobalData

GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.