The insurance industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by growing demand for digitalisation and personalisation. With growing importance of technologies such as telematics, machine learning, big data, deep learning, and data science, insurers are overcoming demographic challenges, low penetration rates, cybercrimes and fraudulent claims. In the last three years alone, there have been over 11,000 patents filed and granted in the insurance industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Cybersecurity innovation: Leading companies in Insurance data recording blockchain for the insurance industry. Buy the report here.
Smarter leaders trust GlobalData
However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
90 innovations will shape the insurance industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the insurance industry using innovation intensity models built on over 65,000 patents, there are 90 innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, blockchain-based authentication is a disruptive technology that is in the early stage of application and should be tracked closely. Satellite-based anti-theft tracking, cyber-attack risk analysis, and fraud detection techniques are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are E-payment security protocols and anonymous authentication, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for cybersecurity in the insurance industry
Insurance data recording blockchain is a key innovation area in cybersecurity
One of the main advantages of blockchain is cost savings. The use of blockchain can have an impact on claims, administration, underwriting, and product development. The majority of blockchain use cases have been concentrated on cost-cutting initiatives.
Blockchain can automate claims processes by confirming coverage between reinsurers and corporations. Additionally, it will automate payments for claims between parties, which will cut insurers administrative expenses.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established insurance companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of insurance data recording blockchain.
Key players in insurance data recording blockchain – a disruptive innovation in the insurance industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to insurance data recording blockchain
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| SoftBank Group | 74 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 45 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Memjet Technology | 45 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toronto-Dominion Bank | 41 | Unlock Company Profile |
| eBay | 15 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Vesl | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Alphabet | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| International Business Machines | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Rpx | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Pearl | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| BlackBerry | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Dell Technologies | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Flair Airlines | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
SoftBank Group is one of the leading patent filers in using electronic metadata to verify insurance claims. Their technology includes extracting and validating metadata from a received digital file from a user, before accepting the file. The process can involve validating that a digital file contains a copy of a requisite token. Some other key patent filers in recording blockchain for the insurance industry include State Farm Mutual, Memjet Technology, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, eBay, and Alphabet.
In terms of application diversity, Pearl leads the pack, with Rpx and BlackBerry in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Alphabet holds the top position, followed by Vesl and BlackBerry.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the insurance industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Cybersecurity in Insurance.
Premium Insights
From
The gold standard of business intelligence.
Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors.
GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
