September 2017 - Data is growing increasingly important as carriers continue to digitize their businesses. It has become key to the initial design of products, marketing those products, and the end-to-end processing of those products, whether through direct channels or through agent and broker channels. Most carriers have designated a chief data officer or equivalent role to be responsible for data, but maturity in this area ranges widely across the industry. The more architecturally advanced a carrier is, the more likely they are to use new technology and tools and to get more value from higher quality data. Data security still represents a significant challenge, especially in light of evolving regulations.

This brief outlines the growing importance of data, and the role of the chief data officer, as well as current data practices and challenges, and the ways in which new technologies can be deployed to yield business benefits.