Big data is worthless without accurate boundary technology
For all the hype in the insurance industry around the potential of so-called big data, such information is worthless without the availability of the correct technology to help organise and make sense of it.
That is the message from executives from GfK, a digital map and data provider, which warns that many big industry players are working with data that is fundamentally flawed because they are basing their assumptions on poor quality boundary data.
The problem will be the subject of a free Intelligent Insurer-hosted webinar delivered by GfK and featuring a use case by ImageCat on September 10 from 3-4pm BST (London time).
Part of the solution is to use digital CRESTA zone maps, which provide a universal standard for the exchange of aggregated, insurance-related information among insurers and reinsurers.
“We read a lot about the wonderful things that the industry can do with big data, but true insights emerge only after using proper boundary data to geographically link, analyse and display this information,” said Christopher Guider, marketing manager at GfK. “Big data doesn’t yield penetrating insights unless you can somehow organise and make sense of it.”
He argues that boundary data in the form of CRESTA zones helps the industry do just that. He stresses that this technology represents the best possible way of comparing and exchanging risk and exposure-related data.
He added: “CRESTA zones are ideal for analysing and visualising risk-related data because they offer two resolution levels, worldwide coverage and, most importantly, a consistent and unified geographic basis that supports the meaningful comparison, exchange and aggregation of data.”
The webinar in September will also feature several case studies examining how this type of boundary data has been used in specific disaster scenarios such as during the recent typhoon in the Philippines.
