InsurLab Germany presented its annual planning for 2019 at an internal kick-off event. After the association grew into the largest industry initiative for the digitalization of the German insurance industry last year, the development of new offering formats, the promotion of collaborative projects and the acquisition of new national as well as international network partners are in the foreground in 2019. New exchange formats and Batch #1 of the InsurLab Germany Accelerator program will also promote intensive collaboration between the now 71 member companies and innovative startups worldwide.
From members for members
"In 2018, we were able to build a strong network of insurance companies, startups, universities and colleges, as well as leading service providers and technology vendors. The active participation of members is impressive - we naturally want to maintain this high level in 2019 and further expand our offering. With the help of offerings organized by members for members, we would like to further strengthen the connections that now exist between companies in order to work together on current trends and opportunities in digitization. Knowledge sharing, collaborative work - also across industries - and even more intensive cooperation with startups and partners worldwide are the cornerstones of our work in the new year. In addition, further projects are in the pipeline for 2019, but we cannot talk about them today," says Dr. Mathias Bühring-Uhle, CEO of the initiative. The first business roundtables as well as working groups, workshops and formats with talented students are already set for the coming months. But established events such as InsurTech Week or EXECinsurtech will also be offered again in 2019.
Four key topics shape the new year
With the help of a member survey, four topics were defined, each of which will shape a quarter of the year. These are "Customer Journey - possible uses of AI," "eHealth - from cost reimburser to life companion," "IoT in product development and damage prevention," and "Digital ecosystems and cooperation models. Among other things, the so-called innovation workshops - workshops in which selected startups and members of the initiative work on potential project ideas - as well as the InsurLab Germany Club Events are aligned with these key topics. The topic-related, cross-industry networking with the other "Digital Hubs" of the BMWi's de:hub initiative will also play an important role in 2019.
More and more startups are joining
Many insurers and other companies have already joined the initiative. Most recently, InsurLab Germany welcomed AOK NordWest, the first statutory health insurance company, to its membership. Eurapco, an association of European insurance associations, also joined InsurLab Germany. In addition, more and more startups want to actively participate in the development of the initiative and become members. "Startups can, but do not have to become a member to work with us and use our services. For this reason, we are even more pleased if they nevertheless decide to become an official part of the initiative and develop it further with us," says Sebastian Pitzler, Managing Director of InsurLab Germany. At the turn of the year, InsurLab Germany welcomes five new startups among its members. With Claimsforce, Neodigital, SecuPi, smoope and TensorFlight, the industry initiative now counts 71 members.
