Identity management, cloud, interfaces: Start-ups and insurers want to work together on projects in the future. The Digital Hub forms the basis for these initiatives.
Short video via smartphone instead of a long wait for the post office: With the help of Hamburg-based start-up Nect, R + V Versicherung has been accelerating the identification of its members for the customer portal since last autumn. The technology of Nect makes it possible to check the authenticity of a filmed ID card without the use of people. Previously, customers had to wait until the insurer sent them an unlock code for the platform by letter.
Now start-up and various medium-sized insurers want to expand this model together. The catalyst for the project is the association Insurlab Germany, which brings together start-ups, established insurance companies and science from Cologne. The identity management initiative for the industry should be the starting point for cooperation in several areas.
Concrete projects between start-ups and insurers
Thus, the Digital Hub extends its work beyond the networking of companies and the development of start-ups to concrete implementation projects. “We have the aspiration to offer concrete solutions to the insurance industry in the interplay of startups and insurers,” says Mathias Bühring-Uhle, CEO of Insurlab Germany.
Three quarters of the member companies had spoken out in a survey for common tasks – and in part even declared their willingness to take over the management of such cooperation projects. “We want to use the potential of the industry initiative and the know-how in our network,” says Insurlab-Germany CEO Sebastian Pitzler to WirtschaftsWoche founder.
The form in which such a collaboration ends is not yet clear. However, several other topics have already been identified: there is great interest, for example, in cloud solutions for the insurance industry or in technological interfaces between insurers’ IT systems. So companies want to work more efficiently on some issues “It’s not about the highly competitive topics,” says Pitzler. Members can access the approximately 200 start-ups that belong to the network. They work on IT solutions for the insurance industry or even for digital insurance products.
Networking of ecosystems
In the club itself, almost 80 companies are members. Most of them are large or medium sized insurers. There are also consultancies, IT companies and universities. Organizers such as the Koelnmesse are now also part of the network – in the future, Insurlab plans to hold its own conferences and trade fairs in Cologne and Munich.
Launched nearly two years ago, the Cologne-based association is part of the nationwide Digital Hub Initiative, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics. At a total of twelve locations in recent years, places and spaces have been created in which start-ups, companies and universities are to network. Each location focuses on a particular industry – for the insurance sector, there is not only Cologne, but also the Insurtech hub in Munich.
Also published on Medium.