Recently, Dowling and Partners’ Gary Ransom spoke to AAIS CEO and President Ed Kelly during the Virtual Main Event, discussing how COVID-19 will touch nearly every aspect of the insurance ecosystem. The impact is pervasive. In fact, according to Mr. Ransom, the COVID-19 pandemic is on track to become the largest insurance event in history, according to one industry expert.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the insurance industry – and the world – permanently, and one expert believes the industry will respond well to the challenges set forth by this catastrophic event. AAIS’s Nicole Milos spoke with Fred Karlinsky, Co-chair Insurance Regulatory and Transactions Practice at Greenberg Traurig, about his views on the COVID-19 pandemic and the short- and long-term impacts the pandemic could have on the insurance industry.

IBM, who has partnered with AAIS on the development of the openIDL data-management platform on blockchain, has long been a strong proponent of open-source software development. Chris Ferris, an IBM Fellow and CTO for Open Technology at IBM, spoke to AAIS’s Joan Zerkovich on the importance of the open-source concept and the powerful outcomes IBM has seen from building technology in an open environment.

Open source technology. Collaboration and cooperation to improve the products and technologies necessary to move innovation forward. Building a platform where new applications are welcomed to extend the tool’s use cases. These fundamental practices led to the creation of the Internet…and are being seen again as distributed ledger technology takes center stage.

The Internet was built on the concepts of open source, open collaboration, and cooperation. One industry pioneer believes these principles can and should be put into use today for continued success.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. Storefronts and restaurants were shuttered; jobs were lost; many became ill, and most companies had to quickly adjust to a new, remote working environment. The effects of the pandemic are pervasive, and will have a lasting impact on families, communities, businesses, and the country for years to come.

Climate change continues to wreak havoc on farm and agriculture businesses. With increasingly unpredictable weather, destructive storms, and a decrease in natural resources, the farm & ag industry is scrambling to find a more reliable way to farm– one that would protect the industry from a quickly changing world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought great uncertainty…among families, companies, communities, and the world. Leaders must understand how to overcome their own fears to inspire and engage their teams during this difficult time. But how can leaders be calm, assertive and decisive to help their teams continue to succeed?

The auto industry is fueling up for new technology down the road. Fully autonomous vehicles and advanced crash-data analysis will all impact not only how the industry operates, but how it is insured as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved what National Association of Insurance Commissioners CEO Mike Consedine already knew – the regulatory community is swift, nimble, and creative when dealing with an unprecedented emergency.