When big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other technologies are increasingly affecting human life and work style, "insurance technology" has become one of the important issues facing the development of the insurance industry in 2017.

On August 31, a conference on "Risk Mutation - Logic of Reconstruction of Insurance Eco-technology" was held in Hunchun, Jilin, hosted by the Beijing Insurance Research Institute, and organized by the Beijing Insurance Research Public Welfare Foundation and the Orient Guoxin Venture Capital Management Company Limited, where the impact of the application of new technologies on the industry's development as well as the challenges of regulation were once again in the spotlight.

In the industry: technological change is changing the insurance ecosystem

In the view of Zhu Peibiao, general manager of the information technology department of CIB, as a data-intensive industry, data is the foundation of the insurance industry, the basis of development, and the complexity of the insurance business scenarios and the comprehensiveness of the big data determines that it is more necessary for the insurance industry to stand in the wind of science and technology, and take the initiative to embrace new technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and so on. chain and other new technologies. Technology itself is also driving the mutation of risks, and it is leading to huge changes in people's behavioral, economic and business models, which will inevitably lead to new risk scenarios, resulting in manageable risks far beyond the scope of coverage of traditional insurance. At the same time, it also brings innovation in risk management tools.

Zhu Peibiao said, in fact, the Internet, as well as the new order of the virtual world, has given rise to a number of innovative insurance products and services, unmanned aircraft, GIS, the Internet of cars, the Internet of Things, etc. are quietly changing the industry's risk management model. More risk management tools based on big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence are also emerging.

"We can clearly feel that the changes in risk characteristics brought about by new technologies are changing the insurance ecosystem, which is a long-chain industry with extremely rich and complex business scenarios, and is directly related to and integrated with many industries that have a bearing on the country's economy and people's livelihood. At the same time, it has brought about innovation in risk management tools. The continuous emergence of more risk management tools based on big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence has made science and technology play an important catalyst role in promoting industrial upgrading and integration of the insurance industry, while the upgrading and integration of the industry will inevitably bring about a gradual variation in the subject matter of insurance in the occurrence of risk characteristics."

Li Xiaolin, dean of the School of Insurance at the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that this round of new technology, mainly led by information technology as the center of some of the new tools, which changes the risk is different from the past. The in-depth study of genetic engineering may lead to a sea change in life and health insurance. The widespread use of artificial intelligence is likely to result in more and more risks from human error being weakened and extreme risks being amplified. Because of this, the insurance industry may no longer be a mere supplier of insurance products in the future, but an integrator of scenario-based risk management and services, which all opens up a huge space for the application of new technologies. And only new technology can unite the many elements together to reduce the industry's operating costs, improve the efficiency of risk management and carry the healthy operation of the insurance ecosystem.

Xue Xianggang, the proposed general manager of Hua Gui Life, which was approved for establishment in 2016, also talked about the impact of technological development on the industry. In his view, small and medium-sized insurance companies are not quite the same as large companies, and must make their own characteristics in the market competition. Leading with technology is one of the most important aspects for small and medium-sized insurance companies to differentiate themselves and compete with large companies in the future. Small and medium-sized insurance companies have to be unique in order to survive in the competition, and technology is the breakthrough. For example, the combination of Internet and mobile technology makes the products have fragmented and fragmented needs; after the Internet is characterized by the life scene of things can be conveniently purchased at any time, anywhere, in which case we can do some products close to the life scene.

Regulation: penetration of risk requires technological assistance

In the view of Zhu Purubiao, science and technology is driving the change of the insurance ecosystem, and regulation is no exception, regardless of the expansion of the manageable risk, the variation of the underlying risk characteristics, the innovation of risk management tools, etc., or the safety of the application of the new science and technology itself, the ecological change of the insurance industry can not be divorced from the original purpose of financial services, and can not challenge the bottom line of the financial security, must be within the regulatory framework. The bottom line must be under the regulatory framework. "The ever-changing insurance ecology runs within the controllable rules of the regulator, which is not possible without the assistance of new technologies. It is essential to apply new regulatory technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to attend to the risks and strive to make the risks discoverable, warnable and disposable."

The application of blockchain is also seen as bringing new possibilities for regulation. "The application of blockchain makes it technically possible to decentralize and de-intermediate operations. As an insurance company, I feel a sense of crisis. We are still protected in the licensing piece, there is no way for external ones to come in without a license, but with the de-intermediation and de-centralization, this piece is getting more and more blurred, what exactly are the regulatory boundaries of insurance, what should be licensed, and what can be done without a license, it is getting more and more blurred" Xue Xianggang said.

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