— Jamie McDougall , Vice President of Business Intelligence and Analytics , Gore Mutual Insurance in Cambridge , Ontario . This is a spot where continuous innovation seems to be in the air and where the hands-on creation of insurance solutions is commonplace . Featuring a high-tech innovation lab , McDougall says this area acts as a hub where “ brokers , insurtechs , reinsurers , technology partners and Gore Mutual employees from different departments can collaborate on solutions to solve industry issues ”.

This proactive stance is a must in the insurance world . The nature of risk is ever-changing – and insurance needs to transform with it , not only to remain commercially viable but also to protect customers . “ In our business , responsiveness to the consumers ’ needs is critical : we want to be there when they need us ,” notes McDougall . “ If we know that a dramatic storm is coming or a forest fire is burning , we can be proactive and identify the exposure , policies , and those consumers at risk . At times we have proactively called brokers , identified the consumers in their portfolio that are at risk and then proactively contacted them to ensure that they ’ re okay and that they didn ’ t experience loss . This data offers transformative value that we can bring to the business .” As well as using its own analytics , Gore Mutual has worked shoulder to shoulder with Aon to try and understand the “ complexity of catastrophic loss protection ” when creating models for flood or earthquake risk . The firm has also forged ties with DMTI for detailed location information , which McDougall describes as “ a quality data provider ”. Another key insurance industry data partner , OPTA Information Intelligence , has enabled Gore Mutual to improve

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