March 2010
This Issue: Geographic Information Systems
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ISO Review is a quarterly publication for insurance executives and management. You’ll find analysis, commentary, and opinions from ISO experts on important issues — and on the challenges facing our industry today.
This issue deals with geographic information systems — or GIS. There are articles on using GIS in insurance rating, underwriting, and catastrophe management. You’ll also find information on building a GIS competency, using GIS to fight crime, and helping fire departments plan their response areas with GIS. We hope you’ll find the information useful and the authors’ perspectives provocative.
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Contents
By Frank J. Coyne
Geographic information systems (GIS) technology is all around us today — in our cars, on our computers, even in our cell phones. ISO’s CEO surveys the GIS marketplace and outlines the potential benefits for insurers.
By Guy Seeley
GIS technology lets users integrate multiple sources of data about the world — including data from remote sensors on aircraft or satellites — to answer important questions. Combined with sophisticated modeling, GIS systems can gather information, place it in context, and use it to assess risk in real time.
By Marty Ellingsworth
Insurers have long used large geographic features to divide the country into about 1,000 territories for purposes of determining expected loss costs. Using ZIP code data, insurers found they could increase that to about 30,000 regions, with significant competitive advantages for early adopters. But what if you could accurately determine loss costs for 200,000 territories around the country?
A Conversation with Bill Raichle
ISO’s vice president, Risk Decision Services, talks about how insurers can get the most out of their GIS investment.
By Christopher Sirota and Steven Craig
For automobile insurers, Global Positioning System (GPS) data is the essential link between GIS information and driver-behavior data from a telematics system.
By Cecilia Sze and Paul Walsh
Weather and climate affect all commercial activities. Therefore, knowledge about the weather can help all kinds of companies — especially insurers — evaluate their strategies and manage their business.
with Phil Hatfield, Roger Grenier, Venkat Rachakonda, Pram Lipczyk
Four executives from the ISO Family of Companies share their views on GIS return on investment, GIS data quality, how to take advantage of GIS today, and what GIS can do for insurers in the future.
By Joseph A. Masington
ISO is using GIS technology to help fire departments determine the optimal response-area boundaries for each fire station in their fire districts.
By Roger Grenier
GIS technologies let insurers combine information on geographic location with information on building characteristics to enhance exposure data and manage catastrophe risk.
A Conversation with Nigel DeFreitas and Mike Goodside
A managing architect in ISO’s Software Products Department and an enterprise architect in ISO’s Systems Engineering Department discuss their approach to adopting GIS, the lessons they’ve learned, and their thoughts on building a GIS competency.
By David Shillingford and Jon D. Groussman
Investigators no longer have to use colored pins on a wall map to see patterns of crime. Modern GIS technology is helping law enforcement, insurers, and businesses of all kinds address and mitigate the risks of crime.
By Sanjiv Mishra
GIS tools can help auto insurers segment their risks, redefine rating territories, and improve the operational efficiency of call centers.
By Bryon Kenne and Venkat Rachakonda
Insurers need statistically sound, accurate, and validated rating data to make good business decisions. Spatial accuracy matters. GIS technology can help insurers understand and mange the risks and hazards that affect their books of business.
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