29 Insurance reinvented with SSI
David Harney and Jamie Smith
Insurance is an information- and relationship-intensive business—so it is no wonder that it is one of the industries where SSI is quickly gaining a foothold. This chapter is a collaboration between a lifetime expert in the insurance industry—David Harney, group CEO of Irish Life—and an SSI expert—Jamie Smith, Senior Director of Business Development at Evernym.
Put simply, self-sovereign identity (SSI) will transform how insurance is designed, how it operates, and how it is experienced. Expect services to become completely seamless and personalized. New processes will change how data is sourced and shared, with individuals becoming the couriers of their own data. In fact, data portability will become table stakes.
The world of connected things won’t be left behind either, as SSI will usher in a new generation of intelligent devices ‘at the edge’, disrupting everything from supply chains to personal healthcare.
SSI is going to matter deeply for insurance companies. They’ll be able to develop richer, longer-lasting relationships with customers, and develop smarter insights to inform pricing and risk analyses. SSI will help organizations reduce fraud,[1], lower costs,[2] and ultimately get better at data compliance. They will also be able to innovate with new insurance products and services, for example around data integrity and authenticity.