The Tech Trend Radar 2021 is out now – it provides information about technology-driven trends in 2021 that are relevant to the global insurance sector. The TTR is a collaborative initiative by Munich Re and ERGO. Martin Thormaehlen, Lead Architect Digital Business Models at Munich Re, and Daniel Grothues, Head of Enterprise Architecture at ERGO, are members of the editorial team of the new Tech Trend Radar. They say: Insurers must become technology businesses at the heart.
The profound consequences of the current pandemic are not yet foreseeable, but it has once again brought it home to us: Humanity's greatest strength is also our greatest weakness: social coexistence on a global scale and global cooperation. Without human closeness through social contacts, we become lonely in a very short time. Just as bad, of course, are the necessary closures of schools, restaurants and stores and the bans on sporting and cultural events that threaten professional livelihoods and careers.
But the pandemic has also opened our eyes wide to the benefits of technology: The rapid development of corona tests as well as the new vaccines would have been impossible without technology. Home offices will be maintained as the new normal, providing a tremendous benefit to commuters and families. And implicitly will reduce congestion and relieve public transport. Not to mention company savings if they need less office space in expensive cities.
Martin Thormaehlen, Lead Architect Digital Business Models at Munich Re
Daniel Grothues, Head of Enterprise Architecture at ERGO
The new Tech Trend Radar has been intensively discussed and compiled completely remotely with additional great insights from our Munich Re venture colleagues in San Francisco, HDFC ERGO in India and the Si Tao innovation team in Beijing to only name a few. We’ve discovered that circular economy enabling technology is gaining momentum and we’ve additionally put a new focus on health-related trends like AI-enabled drug discovery, AI diagnostics and population health.
The technology mega trends like machine learning, cloud computing, robotics and cellular technology (5G/6G) continue to accelerate with exponential speed. For insurance, technology is not only an enabler, but insurers must become technology businesses at the heart. Due to the huge number of emerging solutions and services insurers cannot hope to adopt everything themselves but need to establish digital ecosystems with partners. To foster an exponential mindset also in the insurance industry the organizations need to bring business and technology teams together so that they can learn from each other quickly and implement the most effective business cases.
Our Tech Trend Radar helps navigating within these business initiatives and to differentiate future ideas from trends with immediate benefits.
We clearly see that it’s not the technology that drives success or failure, it’s the people who decide which need to address and who execute the implementation and growth.
Let’s develop our future – together!
Text: Martin Thormaehlen and Daniel Grothues
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