Latest Tech Headlines

All the headlines from our Tech Topic Page, ordered by recency.

The Lowdown: Reimagining Research to Recognize Emerging Insurance Industry Trends

Sep 19 2019 // The Society of Insurance Research (SIR) will hold their 49th Annual Conference on October 20th – 22nd at the Sheraton Charlotte Hotel in Charlotte, NC and I am thrilled to be attending. The theme for this year’s...

Agencies Form Venture to Accelerate, Invest in Insurtech Startups for Agents, Brokers

Sep 19 2019 // Six insurance agencies from across the country have joined together to form a program specifically for investors and innovators behind technology innovations for insurance agencies and brokerages.The new entity, BrokerTech...

Insurtechs Poised to Challenge Traditional Home Insurers: J.D. Power

Sep 18 2019 // Traditional home insurers appear to be in need of an image change, and that, in turn, could create a big opportunity for insurtech startups, according to the latest J.D. Power U.S. Home Insurance study.Approximately 74...

Iowa’s Global Insurance Accelerator to Host 17 Firms for InsurTech Week 2019

Sep 17 2019 // The Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA), a Des Moines, Iowa-based InsurTech accelerator focused on innovation for the insurance industry, says 17 companies will participate in its fifth annual InsurTech Week, being held...

Parents of Georgia Tech Student Shot by Campus Police Officer Sue School

Sep 16 2019 // The parents of a Georgia Tech student killed by a campus police officer two years ago have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school, the university system and the officer.Authorities have said university police...

Insurers Looking to Add Jobs in Low Unemployment, High Tech Environment

Sep 13 2019 // About 62 percent of insurance companies polled said they intend to increase staff in the next 12 months, according to the latest U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study conducted by recruitment firm The Jacobson Group and...

On Second Thought, Insurtech Next Insurance Thinks Agents Have a Role After All

Sep 12 2019 // Next Insurance has begun formally marketing a portal designed to help independent agents quickly quote and sell its policies.Next said the system, dubbed “Next for Agents,” had been in beta testing since April...

Uber Refusing to Label Drivers as Employees Under California Law

Sep 12 2019 // Facing the most serious threat yet to its business model, Uber Technologies Inc. is dusting off a legal argument it has employed with mixed results: that it’s a technology platform, not a transportation company.Now,...

AXA XL Partners with Insurtech Neptune Flood to Expand Private Flood Insurance

Sep 12 2019 // AXA XL is partnering with digital private flood insurance program manager Neptune Flood in a strategic underwriting partnership that will more than double Neptune’s capacity across the country.According to CEO Jim...

Canadian Insurtech Apollo to Offer Educators Liability Coverage in California

Sep 12 2019 // Apollo Insurance Solutions, a Canadian insurance marketplace, has entered the American market with a liability insurance product tailored for educators in California. The product allows consultants, instructors, and...

Typhoon Faxai Makes Landfall in Tokyo Area, Killing 1, Disrupting Travel

Sep 10 2019 // A typhoon blew across the Tokyo metropolitan area Monday morning, killing one person and causing dozens of injuries, while disrupting rush-hour travel and knocking out power.Several railway and subway operators suspended...

Automated Driver Assist Cars Still a Work in Progress

Sep 9 2019 // To the human driver, it would have been an obvious obstacle: a police car and fire truck, emergency lights blazing, blocking the lane ahead.But to the Tesla Inc. Model S traveling down a Southern California freeway last...

Prudential to Pay $2.35 Billion for Insurtech Startup Assurance IQ

Sep 6 2019 // Prudential Financial Inc. is set to buy online insurance startup Assurance IQ Inc for $2.35 billion, the latest in a series of moves by traditional insurers to up investment in technology and data crunching by buying...

Former Google Engineer Charged in Uber Autonomous Theft Case

Aug 29 2019 // A former Google engineer was charged Tuesday with stealing self-driving car technology from the company shortly before he joined Uber’s efforts to catch up in the high-stakes race to build robotic vehicles.The...

Millennials Think They’re So Much Better at Multitasking Than Everyone Else. They Are.

Aug 29 2019 // Emails, instant messaging, app notifications, RSS feeds, and a plethora of social networks inundate almost every aspect of daily life from work to home or just keeping in touch socially. Some people average more than four...

Frederick Mutual Hires Stenbjorn as Vice President of Information Technology

Aug 29 2019 // Frederick Mutual, a Frederick, Md.-based insurance company, has hired Paul Stenbjorn as vice president of Information Technology.Stenbjorn has been a technology management professional for more than 20 years. He has held...

Insurtech Kin Insurance Raises $47M to Launch Florida Homeowners Carrier

Aug 29 2019 // Kin Insurance, an insurtech startup focused on home insurance in catastrophe-prone regions, said it has raised $47 million in new venture financing to fuel expansion and a revamped business model.August Capital led the new...

Auto Safety Test Pits Traditional Car Mirrors v. Rear/Side Cameras

Aug 28 2019 // The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to test how drivers could use cameras to replace traditional rearview mirrors in automobiles, a technology already allowed in other countries, the agency said...

5 Insurtechs Working to Improve Agency Processes, Efficiency

Aug 26 2019 // Independent insurance agents can find sifting through the many insurtech products to pinpoint ones suited to their needs is a daunting assignment.But it’s an assignment they must tackle, according to agency...

Russia’s Yandex Accelerates Driverless Car Testing

Aug 19 2019 // Yandex, a Russian equivalent to Google, said it is considering expanding its fleet of self-driving cars to up to 1,000 within the next two years in order to speed up tests on the fledgling technology.Yandex hopes to start...