Blockchain is a hot topic. It receives a lot of attention. But how can you actually use it? Wouter Joosse works in the FRISS Lab and explores new technologies that could support honest insurance. His current project is to better understand the added value of blockchain for insurance. In this vlog, Wouter explains how insurers can utilize blockchain technology in their fight against fraud.
Today we’re diving into the FRISS Lab to catch the latest insight on blockchain technology for insurance. Let’s see what professor Wouter Joosse is working on.
So, in short, what exactly is blockchain to you?
“Blockchain to me is like a trusted party in the digital world.”
If it’s such a hype, why aren’t more insurers using it already?
“It’s a technique that speaks to the imagination. A trusted party. We are inventing all kinds of problems where blockchain is a solution to. I don’t think that is the way we should approach this technique.
Are there already solutions that make use of blockchain technology?
Well, I think peer-2-peer insurance based on blockchain is a really strong technical foundation. You can show openness to parties etcetera. So for instance you can assess a claim that your friend has submitted. Will you trust him when he submits a claim?”
If you need to be specific: how can insurers utilize blockchain technology? What business challenges can it solve?
“I understand that question, so can I show you something over here?
I think what we now all see is something going in, for instance with this cable, and something coming out with that cable. Everything that happens in the box is not transparent to us. With blockchain it is more like this machine over here. You see every component and we log, everything is transparent. You can see from the other side that the claim is being entered. And we can settle liability. To us as insurance companies it feels like we can completely trust each other, because everything is logged and transparent.
Damage free years, liability platform. But also, is there coverage?”
Then why isn’t it happening? What are the bottlenecks?
“Blockchain really isn’t a mature technology at the moment. So to start with trust we already have to trust each other that we by the technique are able to communicate with one another. In the FRISS Lab we are already working on sharing device and image information.
But before we do that we first need to trust each other.”
