The current “Tech Trend Radar” from ERGO and Munich Re includes 44 trends in five topic fields, that we will explore here on //next in the upcoming weeks. We'll start with “Wellbeing”. What is this trend field all about – and which individual trends and applications hide behind it?
The “Tech Trends Radar 2022” defines “Wellbeing” as a collective term for “technologies to make our lives healthier”. The spectrum ranges from gadgets and tools for monitoring our health (summarised in the trend “Behavioural Analytics”) to the latest generation of “Vaccine Technologies” up to optimisation possibilities for our bodies (“Human Enhancement”).
Details on the nine trends in the trend field “Wellbeing” as well as the first concrete application examples can be found below, but first it is worth remembering: The authors of the “Tech Trend Radar 2022” divide all trends into the four different maturity levels:
“In this year's radar, the most conservative level 'Hold' did not seem appropriate for any of the nine trends in this trend field,” says Daniel Grothues from ERGO, “the developments in the area of 'Wellbeing' are overwhelming.” And his colleague Martin Thormählen from Munich Re adds: “Our recommendations are therefore: twice 'Assess', five times 'trial' and twice even: 'Adopt'.”
So: according to the “Tech Trend Radar 2022”, insurers that offer health and life insurance products should be determined to implement the following two trends:
AI Medicine: //next has already investigated why AI is considered a “game changer” in the health sector. The “Tech Trend Radar” also points out the many advantages such as accelerated drug development, minimised correlations, improved diagnosis and analysis possibilities, as well as pattern recognition through artificial intelligence, and concludes: Insurers should follow this trend closely and already check today whether there is potential to improve their own claims management and underwriting in particular. Munich Re already has a concrete AI solution for this: “Predictor”. We reported on AI in use for your dental health here.
Personalised Medicine: Personalised therapies are now being used depending on the body type, own genetics and disease pattern. The pioneer was oncology, followed by the fight against genetic diseases such as sickle cell anaemia or spinal muscular atrophy – and currently even repairs for problematic DNA are already in development. Although still at an early stage, insurers should already take up this trend, according to the study, in view of the “massive and positive effects” so far, the study authors advise: “trial”.
The “Tech Trend Radar 2022” recommends “Assess”, i.e. a profound examination for one's own business, for the following two trends in the trend field “Wellbeing”:
“I encourage everyone to watch the trends closely, so that we can better assess the risks and seize the opportunities that technology affords us,” Munich Re CEO Joachim Wenning writes in his foreword to this study. For us at //next, this is a nice appeal that also sums up the purpose of this new series of articles well: To introduce you to the individual trends and explore their respective potential. The next part is about six more promising trends – from the trend field of “hyperconnectivity”.
Text: Ingo Schenk
Die deutsche Version dieses Textes gibt es hier: Wellbeing: Technologien, die unser Leben gesünder machen
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