In 1965, Eric Johnson, an engineer at the Royal Radar Establishment in Malvern, Worcestershire, developed the world’s first human activated touch screen.

The idea of a touch interface to a computer arose because increasing air traffic control duties were requiring faster and more accurate decisions. At the time, human operators were able to observe and react to a screen, but the manual processes used would delay their responses. Eric Johnson realised that a touch interface would offer choices to an operator which could dramatically improve responsiveness and reduce workloads when compared to existing, manual systems.

It would be over 40 years later that the first mobile phone would introduce touch screen technology on a mass scale. Over the preceding years, touch screens would become ubiquitous in our daily lives. From customer point of sale terminals to airport check-in and fast-food outlet scenarios. Touch screen technology is now commonplace.

Considering that such a step change in technology occurred in 1965, we could ask ourselves why it took so long for an obvious technological improvement to become widely implemented.

There were reasons. Familiar issues such as prohibitive cost and doubts over quality or reliability delayed widespread adoption. Less obvious obstacles were the tasks of converting manual workflows into digital processes, along with the requisite integrations to core systems. Also, there was a belief that such innovation would not make a measurable difference to consumer behaviours or offer significant cost savings. The familiar phrase, “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” prevailed and it would be another 40 years before the full benefits to both businesses and the wider world, would materialise. 

In the insurance technology sector, there has been a similar disconnect between the advent of the step change that is digital technology and its adoption into digital modernisation upgrade projects. There remains a substantial portion of the market that retains legacy technology. This portion of the market is not ignorant to the benefits of digital modernisation however, but they tend to see such upgrades as being prohibitively expensive and inconvenient.

At Charles Taylor InsureTech, we have the knowledge and experience, not only of our insurance product capabilities but also the business process changes needed to implement and manage a modern, digitised insurance technology stack. We believe we can demonstrate that our digital modernisation offering is neither expensive nor inconvenient and can unlock the step-change in technology that allows an insurance business to fully realise its value.

Rather than simply offering the latest technology, we offer a deep insight into how insurance market participants use technology and what their needs are through a transition process. At Charles Taylor InsureTech, we understand that insurers have existing platforms that a modernisation process must take account of. We have the expertise to optimise and then manage an existing stack into a modern digitised framework.

We live in an age of increasingly refined user interfaces both in Insurtech and beyond. For a digital modernisation strategy to be successful, user-centricity must be a priority. If a user-centric technology is to become popular, it must incorporate a well-designed user interface. Both insurance institutions and end users now expect ever more expansive ways to access either their internal systems or their insurance options as a consumer. At Charles Taylor InsureTech, we have the knowledge and experience of what makes both an excellent customer facing experience and the optimisation of an internal insurance system for its specific industry function.

We understand the widely held goal of today’s insurance market participants to transition to AI and ML enabled capabilities. Doing this relies on the successful implementation of a modern digitised technology stack that fully manages any existing technology landscape and the business written on it. A fully cloud-based, digitised SaaS insurance platform that optimises existing insurance processes is the gateway to implementing the AI capabilities that are likely to be the drivers of competitiveness and profitability in years to come.

Our InHub platform uses an open architecture to facilitate a secure, multi-channel engagement that is central to the modern digital distribution marketplace. Our configurable underwriting products expedite delivery of new offerings to the market, along with real-time reporting capabilities that allow us to closely monitor performance and make changes without delay. 

We believe our approach to digital modernisation offers more than simply a technological upgrade. It uses technology to unlock an overhaul of outdated business processes that were born out of limited technology options. We would be delighted to share what we have learned, not only about modernising insurance technology but also how to best implement it toward achieving your business goals.