How can satellite tv for pc expertise increase the insurance coverage sector?

Satellite tv for pc expertise and Earth commentary knowledge are poised to play a major function in constructing resilience in an more and more risky and unpredictable world.

Extra insurers and governments are tapping real-time satellite tv for pc imaging capabilities not simply to measure and predict dangers amid pure catastrophes, but in addition to make data-driven choices about catastrophe response and rebuilding resiliently, in line with Rafal Modrzewski (pictured beneath), CEO and co-founder of ICEYE.

“Earth commentary knowledge can improve each section of insurers’ and emergency administration organizations’ response,” he advised Insurance coverage Enterprise.

Addressing world and enterprise leaders at Davos

Final month, Modrzewski delivered a message about satellite tv for pc expertise’s developments and its use for local weather resilience on the World Financial Discussion board in Davos.

Satellite tv for pc imaging developments are poised to transform a number of industries that require reliable knowledge to help decision-making, in line with the CEO.

“Prospects embody improved administration of carbon sequestration, initiatives for ocean cleansing, and the event of totally autonomous delivery programs,” Modrzewski mentioned.

“Groundbreaking innovation on this area will assist tackle the complexities of those challenges and construct international resilience quicker and extra precisely than ever earlier than.”

In keeping with Modrzewski, there are two key features to satellite tv for pc expertise: the granularity of knowledge out there and the velocity at which it may be accessed. Artificial aperture radar (SAR) satellite tv for pc imagery gives detailed photographs of floods and wildfires as they develop.

SAR satellite tv for pc expertise is a game-changer as a result of its developments allow us to trace modifications and patterns on the planet, empowering decision-makers to foretell the actions of pure disasters into the longer term.

“These insights are invaluable for governments and insurance coverage corporations to reply quickly and precisely with hazard knowledge that persistently closes the hole,” he mentioned.

Public-private partnerships for local weather resilience

ICEYE has been instrumental in a number of public-private partnership tasks for flood and wildfire resilience around the globe. Modrzewski referred to as on leaders at Davos to hurry up private-public collaboration to handle the accelerating impacts of local weather change and plug gaps in safety.

Quickly intensifying climate occasions and different international challenges have put humanity on the verge of a basic change, he argued, demanding stronger partnerships between the non-public and public sectors.

“The collective actions that people, organizations, and international leaders take collectively may also help transfer the needle towards decreasing international dangers and making the transition profitable,” Modrzewski mentioned.

In February 2023, ICEYE teamed up with insurer Swiss Re Company Options, dealer Guy Carpenter, and New York Metropolis authorities companies to launch a landmark parametric flood insurance coverage pilot. The first-of-its-kind parametric program gives as much as $1.1 million in rapid flood aid to low-income households within the metropolis.

ICEYE contributed its flood insights to a monetary resilience program in Accra, Ghana, developed by the Insurance coverage Improvement Discussion board (IDF), UNDP, and the German authorities. Insurer Allianz and reinsurer Swiss Re have been additionally companions in this system.

The information expertise agency can also be concerned in an analogous effort in Nigeria, the place a number of gamers – together with AXA Local weather, Swiss Re, and others – are searching for to supply insurance coverage and monetary resilience to Lagos.

“At ICEYE, we function over 30 SAR satellites orbiting Earth, capturing photographs day or night time, and, extra importantly, given the perils, via darkness, smoke, and clouds,” Modrzewski mentioned.

“Proudly owning the biggest SAR satellite tv for pc constellation issues as a result of it influences the revisit charge with which we will monitor any given location on Earth.”

Higher knowledge to energy parametric insurance coverage options

Lastly, Modrzewski addressed the significance of well timed and correct knowledge earlier than, throughout and after main catastrophes like floods or wildfires.

Increasingly insurers are deploying parametric insurance coverage and different different options to assist cowl dangers that conventional property and casualty insurance policies can’t. However Modrzewski mentioned the hole in knowledge has beforehand hindered the effectiveness of parametric insurance coverage, which depends on immediate and environment friendly protection for at-risk communities.

“Parametric insurance coverage options rely closely on knowledge, with particular thresholds set as triggers for rapid payouts following a catastrophe,” he mentioned.

“Information acquisition accuracy, consistency, and velocity are very important for these triggers. Speedy and dependable knowledge supply is essential for realizing the total potential of parametric insurance coverage.”

What are your ideas on satellite tv for pc imaging and related applied sciences as instruments for constructing local weather resilience?