2020 has certainly proven to be a year of unprecedented disruption and change, largely brought on by the novel coronavirus. Phrases like work-from-home, social distancing, personal protective equipment, and video call have erupted in our daily usage in just a few short months.

Yesterday insurance blockchain consortium The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative announced a new working group for Surety Bonds, which are usually required by government and construction contractors to ensure they fulfill their obligations to their client.

This past summer, a group of African-American YouTubers filed a putative class action against YouTube and its parent, Alphabet. The suit alleges that YouTube’s AI algorithms have been applying “Restricted Mode” to videos posted by people of color, regardless of whether those videos actually featured elements YouTube restricts, such as profanity, drug use, violence, sexual assault or details about events resulting in death.

The coronavirus pandemic has given insurance companies an unexpected opportunity to try out some fully virtual or heavily tech-driven claims processes. It has pushed traditional insurance carriers beyond the “old way” of inspecting claims and has triggered a wave of innovation in what has long been considered a slow-moving industry.

External attacks on companies result in the most expensive cyber insurance losses, but employee mistakes and technical problems are the most frequent generator of claims by number, according to a new report from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, Managing The Impact Of Increasing Interconnectivity – Trends In Cyber Risk.

In the past years, we’ve seen a steadily growing interest in distributed ledgers and smart contracts. The financial industry has already been largely disrupted by these innovations.

Property and casualty claims is already one of the most dynamic, exciting and important areas of the insurance business. Whether we are considering personal or commercial lines, or the auto, property or casualty/medical areas, there is a lot going on.

GM announced this week that it will start selling policies directly to drivers through its new OnStar Insurance program. The company will start with its employees in Arizona and plans to expand to the general public by the end of 2021.

Accenture reports that the global market for blockchain in insurance is expected to grow to $1.39 billion by 2023. There are countless use cases for blockchain in insurance, as it is an industry of contract execution, detailed and confidential data collection, and third-party payments.

The way insurers collect, analyze and use data is impacting every part of the commercial insurance value chain, from businesses to brokers to insurers.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused tremendous damage, claiming millions of lives while wreaking havoc on the global economy. While companies have adopted more technology solutions to combat business disruptions, their overall financial resilience remains particularly vulnerable.

Increasing employee diversity can benefit not just the public perception of an insurer and the pride of its workforce—it can also help expand its customer base. By creating a safe space and sense of belonging for diverse employees to express their views, companies can create innovative products and solutions that can meet the needs of underserved markets.

Maria Cantu, VP of property claims for USAA, is not one to settle for the status quo. In fact, she’s always pushing to innovate in ways that increase empathy in customer service, say her colleagues.

The insurance industry excels at tactics. If one is an underwriter, a claims person or contact center manager, and a problem is detected, it’s all hands on deck to solve that problem. What tactics could wrestle that problem to the ground? That’s generally the direction the industry is most comfortable with because we are a pragmatic group by nature.

The auto insurance industry has new contender as of Wednesday. General Motors has launched OnStar Insurance, which aims to create a fairer way to insure drivers.