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How Insurtech Has Impacted the Insurance Industry

Insurtech combines insurance services with cutting-edge technologies, such as blockchain, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI). It has altered how insurance firms provide more effective, individualized, and client-focused services through operational simplification and innovation.

Traditional insurance processes involve paperwork and long underwriting times. AI and machine learning have automated several procedures, speeding up underwriting and claim processing. For instance, AI algorithms can analyze enormous volumes of data in real-time, quickly evaluate claims, and reduce human errors. This effectiveness lowers insurance firms' operating expenses and raises client satisfaction.

In addition, insurtech leverages big data analytics. Insurance firms can gain deeper insights into consumer behavior and risk profiles by harnessing data from wearables, telematics, and social media. This data-driven approach enables insurers to offer more tailored products and pricing plans. For instance, usage-based insurance (UBI) policies, which adjust rates based on specific driving patterns, are gaining popularity. This customization fosters more equitable interactions between insurers and their clients, enhancing mutual understanding and trust.

Blockchain technology offers a decentralized and secure tool that helps firms avoid fraud and guarantee transaction transparency. Additionally, smart contracts or self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement explicitly encoded into code lower the possibility of disputes and fraud. They may automate and check the claims process.

Insurtech businesses also spur innovation by posing new business models and launching novel goods and services. These firms often concentrate on underdeveloped areas and specialized markets, providing customized solutions to meet specific needs. Their flexibility and focus on the consumer drive traditional insurers to change and innovate, which creates a more competitive and dynamic market.

Insurance business efficiency, transparency, and consumer friendliness are all expected to increase as insurtech develops. By adopting these technology improvements, insurance businesses and consumers benefit from a more efficient and responsive insurance ecosystem.

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Nordic Capital Announces Major Investment in Cashless Transactions

Nordic Capital, a European buyout shop, has announced an investment in One, Inc., an insurance payments service provider. The investment represents Nordic Capital’s growing confidence in the cashless transactions marketplace. The insurance payments industry has long been associated with complex paper-driven systems, yet the growth of the cashless transactions industry has clearly taken over. Nearly 1.35 trillion cashless transactions were completed globally in 2023, and forecasters believe this figure will surpass 2.1 trillion as early as 2026.

Describing the current state of the insurance payments industry, Nordic partner Fredrik Naslund used the term “technology spaghetti,” while One, Inc. chief executive officer Ian Drysdale pointed out the inefficiency of using separate systems for policies, bills, and claims processing.

One, Inc., has already received backing from Great Hill Partners out of Folsom, California. Nordic’s investment is purportedly worth over $328 million and allowed Great Hill to cash out on a majority stake and drop to match Nordic’s investment. The One, Inc., management team will remain minority shareholders.

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What Is Decentralized Finance?

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a financial technology in blockchain and cryptocurrency hinged on secure distributed ledgers similar to those in cryptocurrencies. Defi utilizes security protocols, hardware advancements, and software to ensure peer-to-peer financial interactions.

While the Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate centralized financial institutions like brokerage firms and commercial banks, DeFi challenges this status quo and allows people to engage in peer-to-peer transactions without being regulated by the SEC.

DeFi often uses applications called wallets to transfer information to a blockchain and allow people to access unique keys to cryptocurrencies or tokens that serve as passwords. When a specific amount is received through a wallet that generates a unique key, one can gain ownership of part or all of a token. When generated, the blockchain technology makes it impossible for the transfer to be reserved, while the unique key ensures that the token ownership is secure.

Furthermore, DeFi applications are such that they can communicate with a blockchain, making it possible for people to purchase, acquire loans, and trade. These applications serve as an interface for automating transactions between different users.

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Ripple Announces the Launch of a Dollar Backed Stablecoin

In early 2024, Ripple announced its plans to launch its own stablecoin. As a major player in the blockchain and cross-border peer-to-peer payments space, Ripple's move will significantly impact the crypto ecosystem.

Launching a stablecoin comes during rapid growth and interest in the cryptocurrency and digital assets market. During the announcement, Ripple specified that it would peg the value of its stablecoin to the US dollar. The development can bring a much-needed sense of stability and predictability to the often volatile cryptocurrency market. US dollar deposits and short-term US Treasury bonds will back the stablecoin to instill trust in the currency,

Given Ripple's focus on facilitating cross-border payments, the launch of a stablecoin presents a unique opportunity to leverage its expertise and enhance the coin's global presence.

The company has not announced specific institutional backing for the stablecoin. However, financial institutions like Santander and Standard Chartered back it due to its longstanding network of partnerships with Ripple. Nonetheless, Ripple’s focus on transparency and high-quality backing assets will most likely attract more institutional support when the stablecoin launches.

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Venture Capital and Global Private Equity Deals Up to Start 2024

Venture capital and global private equity deals were up in Q1 2024, though the total number of transactions fell compared to the previous year. Deals between January and March approached $131 billion in value compared to $124.3 billion during the same period in 2023. In terms of volume, deals decreased by 12.8 percent to approximately 2,880, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Aggregate transaction value peaked at $913.16 billion in 2021 as a record 5,183 deals took place in 2022. Three out of five general partners polled by S&P believed deals would continue to increase during the remainder of 2024, a 34 percent increase compared to the 2023 survey. That said, transaction value fell by 52.2 percent to $32.1 billion compared to March 2023, when deals totaled $67.13 billion. The volume of transactions also fell notably in March, down nearly 23 percent from 2023.

Deal value was down in many regions in March, with private equities in North America falling by almost 75 percent and Asia-Pacific investments falling by over 63 percent. In Europe, however, deals approached $13.8 billion in value, a 72 percent improvement from March 2023.

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The Pratus Communication Platform for Disaster Response

The Pratus platform consists of two key stages. The Incident Management Workspace draws on advanced analytics to equip crisis managers with the tools needed in a given situation. In addition to providing resources and increased situational awareness, the Incident Management Workspace supports integrations with collaborative software such as Microsoft Teams.

The Exercise Workspace, meanwhile, is a planning and management tool that can help crisis managers evaluate the effectiveness of disaster readiness drills and exercises. The workspace offers real-time qualitative and quantitative analytics, trend analysis, and user-based assessments. The Exercise Workspace delivers in-depth after-action reports that provide insight into every aspect of a training exercise.

As the only emergency management tool built within the Microsoft Teams infrastructure, Pratus functions as a singular communication channel across many service providers during disaster scenarios. By streamlining communications, crisis managers can focus on more pressing matters. More information about the Pratus platform is available online at disastertech.com.

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Pratus Streamlines Communications During Crises

Disaster Tech offers clients crisis management software that makes for smarter decision-making. The company’s Pratus platform allows users to build one communication channel that streamlines messages and actions, connecting with others during an event.

The Pratus team application offers users various functions, such as avoiding switching between platforms or tools, which increases efficiency and productivity during incidents. Users can also create a space based on a custom template and the type of incident. Here, teams manage and coordinate response activities among teams by creating an Incidents Workspace Team Site, which can be done through Pratus UI. Afterward, the platform allows users to send invitations to parties to which the user plans to disseminate information. This specific function eliminates the unnecessary steps involved with communicating with parties by coordinating all users before an event happens.

Another function the platform offers is storage space through Teams-SharePoint, which allows users to share relevant documents with others. Finally, the platform sends alerts and notifications through the Pratus Bot, keeping all teams aware of the crisis.

This platform accompanies Microsoft Teams, allowing organizations better outcomes for the company and community. For more information on Disaster Tech or Pratus, please visit www.disastertech.com/.

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Disaster Tech a Microsoft Partner of the Year in 2022

Disaster Tech, a crisis management software company, works with tech giants such as Microsoft to deliver quality apps such as the Pratus crisis management platform. For its work with Microsoft, Disaster Tech was a finalist for the Rising Azure 2022 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award.

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Award was created to celebrate firms that have partnered with the tech giant in developing and delivering exceptional Microsoft-based technology. In 2022, the awardees came from diverse categories and were selected from over 3,900 nominations spanning 100 countries. Disaster Tech received recognition for offering Microsoft extraordinary solutions and services in Rising Azure.

The Rising Azure Technology Partner of the Year Award honors companies without dedicated partner development managers. These companies have also shown that they have used Microsoft Azure to deliver strong customer support as a primary cloud support platform and demonstrated that their customers have used Microsoft Azure to scale their businesses.

Disaster Tech is a veteran-owned public benefit company that offers businesses a platform for streamlining communications during crises. For more information on this award or the company, please visit www.disastertech.com/.

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Technology and Disaster Management

Disaster Tech's platform, PRATUS®, uses advanced data analytics to give emergency managers and first responders l situational awareness and crisis management tools on any device and MS Teams. Disaster Tech’s patented technology provides risk assessment, such as power outage prediction models for critical infrastructures. Technology plays a crucial role in disaster management. For instance, early warning systems have proved essential in disaster management. They offer critical information that helps in preparing and evacuating communities. Technological advancements have improved the accuracy and speed of these systems. Earthquake detection, tsunami warnings, and weather forecasting have benefited from technological progress, providing real-time data that enables informed decisions and timely warnings. For example, geographic information systems (GIS) allow experts to map disaster-prone areas, identify vulnerable populations, and plan evacuation routes.

Drones and remote sensing technologies also aid disaster management by surveying affected areas, assessing damage, and locating survivors. Drones are fitted with cameras and sensors offering high-resolution images and real-time data, making it possible for them to improve search and rescue operations, especially in tough or risky settings.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics play a growing role in disaster management. These technologies handle big datasets such as weather patterns, seismic activity, and social media contents, predicting disasters, assessing their impact, and refining response strategies.

On a similar note, the deployment of robots in disaster zones for search and rescue missions has proven beneficial. Equipped with sensors and cameras, robots can access hazardous environments, locate survivors, and relay real-time data to human responders, enhancing disaster management efforts.

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End-to-End Support for Early Warning Systems

NYC business owner Roger Coleman has managed operations at Coleman Ventures and Coleman Group Partners in New York since 2016. In this position, New York resident Roger Coleman oversees a variety of impact investments designed to benefit various social and geopolitical causes. He is also the president and chief strategy officer of Disaster Technologies Incorporated.

There are several forms of disaster technology that can help local communities and governments both prepare for and recover from natural disasters. These technologies include early warning systems (EWS). As the name suggests, EWS technology can function as alert systems for tornadoes, hurricanes, and other weather events before they reach a community.

Various instruments are used as part of EWS technology, but a system is useless if it does not have proper end-to-end support. This means that once EWS has detected an incoming weather event, the community or government can enact a series of events that effectively disseminate this information to citizens, as well as those continuing to track the oncoming hazard. In addition to communications, a complete end-to-end system consists of accurate information about the risk, the ability to monitor the risk as it develops, and the ability to effectively prepare for the risk as new information arrives.

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The High Standards of the Barron’s Advisor Hall of Fame

A New York-based senior executive, Roger Coleman heads Coleman Ventures in NYC and Disaster Technologies Incorporated in Washington, D.C. Among his other accomplishments, Roger Coleman has gained admittance to the Barron’s Hall of Fame.

An international community of wealth managers, the Barron’s Advisor group admits only the top 0.5 percent of the world’s investment professionals. Barron’s describes the Barron’s advisor as a professional with the ability to “redefine the trade craft of financial services excellence.”

The Barron's Hall of Fame recognizes advisors who have appeared in Barron's annual Top 100 Advisor rankings for a decade or more. Beyond acknowledging the accomplishment of maintaining exceptional service over the long term, the Barron’s Advisor Hall of Fame has particular relevance due to the unique nature of financial advisement service. As Barron’s puts it, “financial advice is a long game.” Because investment clients generally want financial stability over the entire course of their lives, the best investment managers can demonstrate sustained success.

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Predictive Analytics Drives Disaster Preparedness in the Energy Sector

In addition to his ownership role with Coleman Ventures in NYC, New York business leader Roger Coleman serves as president and chief strategy officer of Disaster Technologies Incorporated in Washington, D.C. One of Roger Coleman’s areas of expertise is using predictive analytics to boost disaster technology capabilities.

Experts in predictive analytics use data and technology to identify natural disaster risks and better prepare for them. In the energy sector, the ability of predictive analytics to identify infrastructure vulnerabilities and other potential risks is particularly valuable. Predictive analytics can position energy companies to provide uninterrupted service to the public during and after a natural disaster.

By examining data from past service incidents and using this data to create predictive models, energy companies can protect their infrastructure against potentially hazardous weather events and other natural disasters. Companies can also use predictive analytics to develop effective emergency response plans that they can put into place when preventive measures fail.

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Protecting Energy Infrastructure during Disasters

The owner of Coleman Ventures & Coleman Group Partners since 2016, Roger Coleman divides his New York companies’ profits evenly between his charitable foundation and causes he and his partners care about. To widen his focus outside NYC, Roger Coleman began serving as the President and Chief Strategy Officer at Disaster Technologies Incorporated (Disaster Tech) in 2019. At Disaster Tech, he oversees the creation of systems that safeguard utilities against damage during natural disasters. Mr Coleman is also one' of the early founders/investors in Ripple, and more than 30 successful Private Equity companies; www.colemangrouppartners.com.

Utility companies face common challenges during natural disasters. Although the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has stated that electricity and natural gas companies are responsible for repairing their equipment, in some cases, the damage is so widespread that they cannot do it alone. Even after addressing immediate threats to homes and businesses, strengthening and modernizing the power grid or gas pipelines may cost so much that companies must implement price hikes. The increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires, hurricanes, and floods compound the difficulties.

Each utility company has unique ways of adapting to natural disasters. Electric companies can bury their power lines instead of suspending them from poles above ground where they are vulnerable to wind. AI-driven simulations and virtual reality can help companies create natural gas pipelines that rupture less easily during a ground collapse.

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The Decision science Integrated Collaboration Environment

NYC professional Roger Coleman serves as the President & Chief Strategy Officer of Disaster Technologies Incorporated (Disaster Tech). As a leader at a company that helps communities around New York and beyond during natural disasters, Roger Coleman guides Disaster Tech’s development of the Decision science Integrated Collaboration Environment (DICE) platform.

DICE combines multiple functions into one app, each fulfilling a vital purpose before, during, and after a disaster. In preparation for a disaster, companies can link its preexisting programs, such as Microsoft Teams, to DICE. They can also upload proprietary data sets to Disaster Tech’s databases so employees can access them even when onsite hardware is damaged.

DICE also integrates open-source software which creates data sets for easy use during disasters. The company can send vetted data, from government and academic institutions to employees, and employees can send custom data in return. Compatibility with pre-existing tools, such as texting and WhatsApp, expedite communications when email is unavailable.

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With Rare Atlantic Nino, Atlantic Basin Hurricane Outlook Intensifies

A New York City-based business executive, Roger Coleman delivers client-centered solutions that range from emergency preparedness to disaster prevention. Among Roger Coleman’s areas of expertise in NYC and beyond is helping communities map risks associated with hurricane season and preparing for worst case scenarios, should disaster strike.

The need for comprehensive hurricane mitigation strategies has never been more pressing, with Colorado State University (CSU) researchers in mid-2023 updating their Atlantic Basic forecast for the remainder of the year to “borderline hyperactive.” The backdrop was one in which three tropical storms had already been recorded by July 8th, nearly a month before that tally is typically notched. This caused the researchers to revise their forecast upward from 13 to 18 named hurricanes (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration prediction of 12 to 17 remained unchanged).

One aspect of this increased activity is a rare Atlantic Nino (Dakar Nino) event that is warming waters in the Atlantic Ocean to a temperature well above normal. This makes the entire basin more vulnerable to tropical weather pattern development. At the same time, CSU researchers now discount the degree to which the heated water’s effects will be offset by wind shear reduction. The CSU team further projected that four hurricanes will be major ones expected to sustain winds in excess of 111 miles per hour.

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Preparing Vulnerable Communities for Wildfire

Roger Coleman is an established presence in the New York City (NYC) business community who directs Disaster Tech and provides technology-informed pathways of mitigating hurricane, flood, earthquake, and fire risks. With the latter risk, Roger Coleman has an extensive understanding of ways of protecting communities from the threat of wildfire.

With more than 4 million American households situated in locations of extreme wildfire risk, the need for comprehensive fire mitigation strategy is urgent. One aspect of this involves hazardous forest fuel treatment plans in proximity to built-up communities and surrounding public and private lands.

A strategy can be coordinated that allows for prescribed burns and small and manageable wildfires, which deplete the fire feedstock, instead of inviting catastrophic wildfire. While such programs ultimately help protect residents and their property from devastating fires, one consideration is that fuel reduction burns also generate significant amounts of smoke. This means that community input needs to be considered and support garnered for projects that are a temporary inconvenience, though they improve the long-term wildfire outlook.

Another aspect of the equation is creating evacuation plans, should prevention strategies fail. These range from plans for exiting specific buildings and properties to analytically informed plans for evacuation routes to safe gathering places that will comfortably accommodate the local population until the threat has passed.