The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held its 2023 Fall Meeting on November 30-December 4 in Orlando, Florida. During the meeting, AAIS spoke with Kathleen Birrane, Insurance Commissioner for the Maryland Insurance Administration, to discuss the mission of the NAIC H Committee, updates from the H Committee working groups, and key initiatives for Maryland. 

NAIC H Committee Mission 

Formed in 2021, the H (Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Technology) Committee’s mission is to house and coordinate the work of the NAIC as it relates to those topics. “When we're talking about the innovative uses of technology, big data, [and] AI applications, we're also talking about cybersecurity concerns, data, privacy concerns, e-commerce concerns, and of course, how regulators themselves can utilize and harness innovative technologies to make their work more efficient,” Birrane explained. “That really is the focus of the H Committee.” Another element of its core mission is to ensure that as the NAIC tackles these topics through a variety of committees, the working groups are efficient and consistent.  

Latest Updates from the NAIC Innovation in Technology and Regulation Working Group 

The Innovation in Technology and Regulation Working Group has been focused on reinvigorating the NAIC’s connection with InsurTech, according to Birrane. “This group has been working on making sure that we're creating a forum for developers to come and talk to us and that we have eyes on the new and most innovative applications,” she reported. 

Latest Updates from the NAIC Cybersecurity Working Group 

Birrane shared that the Cybersecurity Working Group has been dedicated to creating regulatory tools. “We have a model law, the Information of Data Security Act, which about 28 states have adopted, and now we're in the implementation phases,” said Birrane. “So, we are developing, improving, and expanding our regulatory tools to understand when an incident occurs and what the right steps are.” Additionally, in 2024, the Cybersecurity Working Group will be expanding its work on the availability and accessibility of cyber insurance by coordinating with the C (Property and Casualty) Committee. “They are synergistic,” Birrane claimed. “Cybersecurity hygiene drives cybersecurity insurability.” 

Latest Updates from the NAIC Privacy Protection Working Group 

The Privacy Protection Working Group has worked through difficult concepts around privacy protection because there is a broad array of what the right approach could be. “Having collected a lot of comments and information, right now we are putting a pin in data collection, finishing up the development of a new version of the model based on all of that feedback, and keeping that in regulator-only session,” said Birrane. “This is so that we can make sure that the membership has consensus around what the scope of the model is and what the model should address.” She expects to see another public exposure document by the second quarter of 2024. 

Key Initiatives for Maryland 

There are a lot of exciting initiatives currently happening in Maryland. “Maryland has been working through the development and setting up of the data analytical function across our divisions so that we're able to be more efficient and effective in our use of data analytics,” said Birrane. Maryland will also be moving to the Salesforce platform. “It will revolutionize how we share data, use data, and how much faster and more efficient we are,” she claimed. “It will also layer generative AI so that we can take advantage of those types of technologies to take data, crunch data, and show data in different formats.” 

To view the full interview with Kathleen Birrane, please click the video above.