We agreed to convene a Medical Data Summit of interested members this year. We would include several presentations on the topic, obtain feedback and create an advisory group as needed to move forward. Ann Henstrand and Lloyd Chumbley will manage this effort moving forward.
The Board of Directors convened its winter meeting in the ACORD London office this year. The office opened ten years ago as a result of the merger with WISe, the successor industry organization to WIN (World Insurance Network, RINET (Reinsurance Network) and LIMNET (London Market Network). ACORD Life Standards had been used in various regions, but the WISe merger was the culmination of a decade long relationship with various London and European industry initiatives with reinsurance and large commercial lines. We have always had an open door policy when it comes to cooperating with other organizations. It increases the value of ACORD Standards and eliminates barriers to open trade.
Spoke with Jack Chiasson, NAILBA Executive Director, about current events today after he announced the new NAILBA look at the meeting here. Since everyone knows NAILBA, they introduced a tag line "The Voice of Independent Brokerage Distribution". NAILBA Website
I am attending the National Association
of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) conference this week
in Fort Lauderdale. Brian Marable (ACORD) is our primary liaison to
NAILBA. Art Jetter will be replacing George Van Dusen on the ACORD Board of Directors in 2010. NAILBA continues to be extremely supportive of industry standards and see the benefits for the broker community. I'll keep you posted on our plans for 2010.
Interesting question. Some vendor systems may print ACORD Forms when needed, but transmit data electronically to insurers. Some agents print the forms for signature, PDF the signed form for the record and shred the paper. So why do ACORD Forms continue to have legs after 40 years? ACORD Forms exist for only one reason, to replace proprietary forms created by insurers and regulators. If proprietary forms did not exist, there would be no standard ACORD Forms.
The digerati refer to ACORD Forms as the physical representation of the electronic standards. That's somewhat true, but the relationship between electronic messages and forms is more complicated. The good news is that we are updating all 700+ ACORD Forms to make them smarter. We created an eLabel database for every piece of data on every form. We provide eForms that enable online completion and we're building better integration tools for software developers. The line between the paper and the digital world is blurring.
Someday, you may never actually print an ACORD Form on paper for any reason once we all agree on electronic signatures. But you'll probably continue to see ACORD Forms because they also provide a standard view for consuming information. Don't underestimate the value of a consistent look and feel.
The Future presents itself in waves. We are engulfed in a blend of old and new technologies. Some fade away, others endure for awhile as new compounds emerge from the mix. You'll continue to see ACORD Forms in the mix somewhere.
Yes... we missed you. The ACORD User Group Information Exchange (AUGIE) met today in Fort Lauderdale at the ACORD Implementation Forum. The open meeting attracted 150 participants and it was followed by an AUGIE Leaders meeting chaired by James Armitage, President of the AMS Users Group. The primary mission of the group is to facilitate the implementation of ACORD Standards. They recommend and coordinate participation on various working groups and reach out to insurers among other things.
If you are an agent, take a look at the AUGIE website and please consider volunteering for some of the working groups... or just one. If you are an insurer, please attend the next meeting. I asked one insurer systems person why he attended the meeting. He said, "This is a great opportunity to spend quality time with our agents, better understand the issues and work on solutions." Apparently, some people working in Operations or Systems don't get this opportunity often. Where else can you see agencies, insurers and vendors sitting around the same table. You'll be amazed by the value of this kind of open dialogue. Contact Cal Durland for more information. cdurland@acord.org
I am working on an ACORD 2020 project as part of our strategic planning process. David Smith has been working with me. David is from Global Futures & Foresight and here is a copy of his slides and a link to his website.
Today, IBM contributed its Insurance Application Architecture (IAA) Business Object/Data Model and the IAA Product Specification Diagram (PSD) to ACORD. This contribution will result in a single Information Model as part of the ACORD Framework for the insurance industry. This is a signficant contribution of IBM intellectual property assets. Now we are going to harmonize the contribution with our existing Model and publish Version 2 so we can begin mapping all ACORD Standards and Forms. Pictured with John Kellingtonn and me is Inder Gopal from IBM who made the announcement.)
Here is the IBM Press Release 11-04-2009
Here is a clip from a local television show featuring ACORD and the SAFIA. ACORD in South Africa
Here is an interesting piece given to me by Jeff Yates from the Agency Council for Technology.
The Steering Committee for the Lloyd's Exchange set 19 February 2010 as the date all participants must upgrade to ACORD RLC 2009.1 release from the present version now being used. Here is the release together with a related story from BestWire.
South Africa's Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA) became members of ACORD today. We have been working in South Africa with several organizations over the past year and the FIA has been taking the lead on several fronts. Here is the FIA Home Page and the Press Release. Download FIA Membership
The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers announced the creation of an Insurance Exchange. The service targets commercial lines, but will be expanded to all P&C lines and non-P&C as well. The Exchange will handle both structured and non-structured data and rely on the same interfaces with agency systems as insurer portals today. Download CIAB Exchange
Mike Morrissey, the new President & CEO of the International Insurance Society (IIS) visited ACORD today to discuss potential partnership opportunities in the future. Mike replaced the retiring Pat Kenny. Aside from their annual summer event, IIS partners with the Geneva Association on research and maintains the Insurance Hall of Fame. We agreed to continue to work together and reach out to other industry trade organizations in what can be a very silo-ed landscape. IIS Home Page
Here is a brochure prepared for the surplus lines folks created by Lloyd's of London.
ACORD Standards are used by the Lloyd's Exchange created by Lloyd's of London for moving information among it's trading partners. Here is an interview I did with Sue Langley, Head of North America Operations.
Take a look at this website that focuses on insurance technology and innovation.
Innovation
Richard Ward did a Q&A with Business Insurance today at 31 August 2009. Here is a copy of the text. Keeping Up Momentum