As the pandemic rolls on, with the omicron variant providing the latest wrinkle, the auto market continues to be reshaped by COVID-19. Aside from the overall financial impact, now increasing claims, severity of claims and higher losses, and worsening consumer behavior are all leaving a mark. Here is the latest from around the industry:

In 2002, Amazon eliminated millions of dollars from its technology costs by switching to the Linux operating system, an open source technology platform from the Linux Foundation. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Amazon stated it was able to cut technology expenses by about 25%, from $71 million to $54 million, primarily through “migration to a Linux-based technology platform that utilizes a less-costly technology infrastructure, as well as general price reductions for data and telecommunication services due to market overcapacity^[1]. Amazon continues its open source technology strategy today, as do thousands of other companies. Today, 96.3% of the world's top one million servers run on Linux^[2].

The AAIS Pulse newsmagazine recently featured AAIS Chief Pricing Actuary Mike Payne and Somil Jain, VP & Consulting Actuary at Lewis & Ellis Actuaries and Consultants, spotlighting forces reshaping the role of pricing actuaries.

Accurate risk assessment is key to mitigating exposure and to unlocking underwriting opportunities.

In an AAIS Webinar, FLAMES: The Modern Fire Protection Evaluation Model, AAIS Vice President Phil LeGrone, and AAIS Senior Risk Strategy Lead Matt Hinds-Aldrich, PhD, outlined the new fire model, FLAMES, and the advantages it offers over traditional models for underwriters assessing and managing non-cat fire risk.

For more than a year, COVID-19 has impacted the lives of millions, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. With more than 25 million cases in the US, nearly half a million dead, countless businesses closed and millions of people jobless without financial security, no one has been left unscathed. It has also raised significant issues for the insurance industry, particularly spurred by Business Interruption-related questions and litigation.

Imagine this: You’re working from home, like many others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your children are also home, remote learning. One of your kids falls prey to malware, infecting your entire network with a virus. Your at-home business’s website is shut down for eight hours. You sigh a breath of relief, thankful that your insurance will cover the costs… or does it?

With an increasing number of employees working from home, there has also been an alarming increase in personal and professional cybercrime exposure. At the September 2020 AAIS Pulse, AAIS Personal Lines Product Manager Linda Jancik hosted a panel of cyber-focused leaders, including CyberScout’s Eric Warbasse and Berkley Re Solutions’ Jeff Cron and Chris Ellis to discuss the rise of cyber threats, future predictions, and how carriers can protect their customers from emerging digital exposures.

Design Thinking is a practical and creative approach to problem solving, used in industries and organizations searching for new, customer-centric ways to enhance the customer experience. Design Thinking aims to better understand consumers' needs and formulate an innovative solution for them. When utilized properly, this framework allows organizations to create faster, more profitable innovations at a more efficient rate. At AAIS, Design Thinking helps formulate innovative insurance solutions, such as the openIDL distributed ledger technology for regulatory reporting in 2018.

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.