AAIS highlights advantages of new blockchain initiative
The American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) is pushing the boundaries of the market in terms of blockchain, Ed Kelly, president and CEO of the body, told APCIA Today. It has launched an initiative called open Insurance Data Link, or openIDL, a blockchain platform dedicated to regulatory reporting.
“Probably the most important word there is ‘open’,” Kelly explained. “It’s creating a lot of buzz in the industry, initially because it was blockchain.
“Once you dig into it, the potential for broad applications in our industry can quickly be seen.”
According to Kelly, openIDL is an open blockchain network that streamlines regulatory reporting and provides new insights for insurers, while enhancing timeliness, accuracy, and value for regulators.
He added that openIDL is the first open blockchain platform that enables the efficient, secure, and permissioned-based collection and sharing of statistical data.
While new applications of blockchain are in their early stages, Kelly said, openIDL is a natural extension of what AAIS already does, describing the organisation as the only national, not-for-profit insurance advisory organisation and authorised statistical agent in the US.
Kelly said that openIDL supports statistical reporting for current and future data calls from regulators, often around emerging or regional exposures or specific events. With access to timely and accurate information, regulators and reporting carriers receive more holistic and dynamic reporting, as well as valuable and relevant insights into exposures and market trends.
According to Kelly, openIDL uses a unique approach to data standards and security that carriers find valuable. Using smart contracts to access select data on a permissioned basis, openIDL satisfies regulatory requirements while proprietary data remains private and protected from external parties and other openIDL participants.
Participating carriers may also see how their data compares to the rest of the reporting market.
openIDL is run on the IBM Blockchain Platform powered by the Hyperledger technology, which currently hosts 250 active blockchain networks, and hundreds of individual blockchain projects across various industries. Hyperledger is an open source collaborative effort created to advance cross-industry blockchain technologies hosted by the Linux Foundation.
Hyperledger provides the groundwork to scale openIDL for insurance industry-wide access.
