The Internet of Things is quickly becoming the Internet of Everything. Whether it’s a sensor in a baby’s diaper to alert parents that the babysitter got lazy, a hotel key that activates the room air conditioning and electricity, or a medical bracelet that tracks heart rate and shares ongoing reports with the doctor, networked connections of people and things are changing our lives.
Executive Summary
For OneBeacon Technology Insurance, insuring the emerging connections of the Internet of Everything means personally meeting with the innovators who are developing new technology to understand the underlying science and sharing insights about risks before moving ahead to provide risk transfer solutions, according to President John Wurzler.For the creators of these apps and makers of these devices, associated security and product liability risks are slowly emerging. While some of these innovations create opportunities for insurers, underwriters most familiar with this new technology are reluctant to write every cool idea that comes along without careful due diligence.
Consider these potential scenarios:
A smartphone app allows a homeowner to unlock the door without a key. What happens if the phone is stolen? A hacker reprograms a GPS device to send the driver to a wrong address. A medical device remotely tracking someone’s heart rate fails to send an alert to the attending physician when the patient is in ventricular fibrillation or V-fib.At OneBeacon Technology Insurance, helping these technology developers understand the potential risks and providing advice and tools to mitigate their exposures is the first step in positioning our company to offer coverage for everything—or many things—within the Internet of Everything.
