Podcast appearances and mentions of christopher mcdaniel

Christopher McDaniel is the President of the RiskStream Collaborative, the first global cross-insurance sector consortium focused on innovation in the insurance space. Christopher shares his thoughts on the future, why blockchain will be an essential part of the insurance industry, and why now is the time to act on, and learn, these new technologies if you want to gain a competitive edge.   Key Takeaways A little bit of Christopher and how he found himself in this field. How does blockchain work? How has blockchain evolved from when it first got started to where it is today? GDPR and blockchain? There might be some conflicts happening. Fast-forward to the future, how will blockchain be used in the insurance industry? The insurance industry has a talent gap. Can AI and blockchain help fill some of these needs or at least upskill more people? AI will help more professionals shift into new roles, and it will be able to automate some tedious ones. For example, underwriting. Christopher shares some of the biggest challenges we're facing in the industry right now and how they will affect our ability to perform our work in the future. Don't wait to see how “things go.” Take action now or else you'll be at a competitive disadvantage. This is not just about learning new technologies, it's about keeping up-to-date with the latest in the insurance landscape. What does Christopher wish he'd learned sooner?   Keep Getting Better Web.theinstitutes.org/riskstream-collaborative Christopher on LinkedIn   Quotes   “Blockchain allows for the sharing of information in a very secured way.”   “The biggest challenge now is to just get folks comfortable with these new technologies.”   “If you sit on the sidelines and wait until everybody does this, you're not just going to be playing catch up in four to five years, you're going to be at a competitive disadvantage.”

Christopher McDaniel is the President at the Institutes’ RiskStream Collaborative. In this podcast he announces the launch of Canopy 3.0 their latest version of their insurance blockchain platform. This new platform, built on Kaleido, supports Corda, Enterprise Ethereum and Hyperledger. Chris also shares with us his plans to launch first notice of loss in production mode on Canopy 3.0 this year.   What is blockchain? Since the launch of Canopy 1.0 in late 2017, Chris' view of blockchain has evolved. Back then when they were building Canopy 1.0 their views were that blockchain was fundamentally a sharing mechanism. There weren’t many applications out there so they had to build use cases and applications to demonstrate to the market what is possible. Now with the launch of Canopy 3.0 things have changed. GDPR, and the right to be forgotten, has had some impact on what you can and can’t do on a blockchain. There are now many parties building out solutions on blockchain compared to back in 2017. Whilst blockchain is still a sharing mechanism there is this realisation that you don’t need to put everything on the blockchain. You can store data off chain and link it to the blockchain via a validated hash. For Chris, blockchain is a great solution for verification, for trust and for facilitating sharing.   The Institute and RiskStream Collaborative The Institute, parent company of RiskStream Collaborative, is focused on education and certification in the insurance industry. Their flagship certification is the CPCU certification amongst another 20 certifications. Their reason for starting RiskStream Collaborative, is that the management at the Institute realised that emerging technologies such as blockchain, AI (artificial intelligence) and IoT (internet of things) are going to be key things they will need to teach and certify for insurance professionals in the future. Based on that they created RiskStream.   Canopy 1.0 Prior to creating Canopy 1.0 the Institute organised a working group for 30 insurers who wanted to find out more about blockchain. From that event three to four proof of concepts (PoCs) were set up on a public Ethereum blockchain. Some of the learnings they gained from that event was the need to build on a private blockchain. Canopy 1.0 was launched on a private Ethereum blockchain with proof of insurance as the one use case built on top of it.   Canopy 2.0 One of the key learnings that the team took out of Canopy 1.0 is that members of RiskStream Collaborative weren’t comfortable with the classic version of blockchain where everything is shared with everyone on the network. Whilst the information was encrypted and accessed on a permissioned basis it still had  trust issues along with legal and compliance ones as it was shared with everyone. Chris and his team looked for an alternative solution and identified R3’s Corda as it had a point to point approach instead of everything being shared across the blockchain. This was a critical success factor for the consortium’s members. Purist would argue that Corda isn’t a blockchain but a distributed ledger technology (DLT). Whilst this is true from a technical standpoint, the DLT solution provided the answers to the challenges they were facing. Canopy 2.0 was launched on a Corda Enterprise License with a number of use cases such as first notice of loss, proof of insurance and a number of other applications within commercial lines, workers compensation, certificates of insurance, surety bonds and a proof of concept for the placement process for reinsurance between brokers and reinsurers. Canopy 2.0 brought significant learnings including one where a number of customer needs and third-party solutions weren’t a natural fit for Corda and thus couldn’t be integrated into Canopy 2.0. GDPR along with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018 introduced some new challenges for blockchain.  Both presume the operation of the traditional d...

Guests: Ryan Rugg - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrugg/) Christopher McDaniel - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophermcdaniel/) Catherine Rutter - LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinemrutter/) - Twitter (https://twitter.com/breadandrutter) Music by bensound.com Links: InsurTech Challenge (https://www.r3.com/insurtech-challenge/) Nautical Contraband (One of Christopher's books) (https://www.amazon.com/Nautical-Contraband-Krewe-Jupiter-Novel/dp/0595665322/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548907953&sr=1-1&keywords=nautical+contraband) Rhumb Line Bend: A Krewe of Jupiter Novel (Another one of Christophers books!!!) (https://www.amazon.com/Rhumb-Line-Bend-Krewe-Jupiter-ebook/dp/B0791KS1ZV/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1548908115&sr=1-5&keywords=CG+McDaniel) RiskBlock (https://www.theinstitutes.org/guide/riskblock) The Institutes (https://www.theinstitutes.org/) GuideWire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guidewire_Software) GuideWire website (https://www.guidewire.com/) DuckCreek (https://www.linkedin.com/company/duck-creek-technologies/about/) DuckCreek website (https://www.duckcreek.com/) Canopy (https://www.theinstitutes.org/about-us/media-center/articles/institutes-riskblocktm-alliance-launches-canopy-risk-management-and) Ethereum switch (https://www.ledgerinsights.com/riskblock-confirms-r3-corda-accenture-blockchain/) Shownotes: 00:00-04:36 Ryan on InsurTech Challenge 04:36-24:10 Christopher McDaniel

Welcome to the second episode of our News Flash series, where we share the latest developments in the blockchain space. For today’s episode we are excited to present returning speaker Christopher McDaniel, president of the RiskBlock Alliance. Chris will guide us through the release of Canopy 2.0, the new version of the RiskBlock Alliance’s blockchain framework, which will run on R3’s Corda Blockchain.   RiskBlock Alliance The RiskBlock Alliance, which featured in one of our previous episodes (An Introduction to The RiskBlock Alliance), is an industry-led consortium comprised of insurance carriers, brokers and reinsurers focused on delivering blockchain solutions to the insurance industry. What sets it apart from other insurance consortiums is the fact it’s a not-for-profit organisation sponsored by The Institutes, an educational organisation focusing on the property and casualty space that has been around for over a century. Since its founding last September, the RiskBlock Alliance has expanded significantly. It developed a relationship with LIMRA in the life annuity and retirement space and expects to expand in areas including group benefits and workers’ compensation.   The RiskBlock Alliance is built around three aspects. The consortium itself and its members, who are integral in ensuring the RiskBlock Alliance is for the industry and by the industry. Its blockchain framework, Canopy, a standardized set of blockchains that are reusable for many applications. Blockchain applications. The RiskBlock Alliance builds fifteen to twenty application on an annual basis on its Canopy framework.   Canopy Before Canopy each company had to create its own blockchain for its applications. If a company decided to build a blockchain application utilising policy information, they created a policy blockchain. Then, if a different company built another application requiring policy information, they had to build a similar blockchain from scratch. The RiskBlock Alliance’s solution to this is Canopy, a framework that makes it easier for companies to experiment with blockchain and create their own solutions. It provides a set of reusable blockchains, such as a policy or a claims blockchain, along with numerous applications that work on these standardized blockchains.   Canopy 2.0 Canopy 2.0 will be released in early September, along with a blockchain application for proof of insurance and one for first notice of loss in claims. It aims to become the framework that connects all blockchain applications together.   1. Universal framework Canopy 2.0 will be the first universal version of Canopy. While the RiskBlock Alliance will continue building its own applications, Canopy 2.0 will be an open framework others can build upon. It will have the tools and components to allow others to cooperate with the RiskBlock Alliance and improve the framework by creating applications and expanding the framework itself. In that way Canopy 2.0 can grow beyond the areas it is currently focused on, making it the first true end-to-end blockchain insurance platform.   2. Back office connectivity At the moment a lot of blockchain solutions ignore the problem of connecting back office systems with the blockchain, leading to a gap between blockchain applications and back office data. Canopy 2.0 solves that with its ability to create APIs to connect back office systems with the blockchain. This connectivity does not just make loading data onto the blockchain easier, it also allows members of the consortium to create more flexible use cases. Chris points out that blockchain is not meant to be used as a data warehouse and it is neither easy nor sensible to put every piece of data onto the blockchain. Through these APIs, members will be able to selectively combine data from the blockchain with data from their back office systems in their applications, thereby creating more flexible use cases for all blockchain appl...

RiskBlock Alliance This week’s Insureblock’s episode takes us to Pennsylvania, USA, where we had the chance to interview Christopher McDaniel,  President of the RiskBlock Alliance; an industry-led consortium that collaborates to unlock the potential of blockchain across the insurance industry.   2 Minute Definition of Blockchain For Chris, there are three fundamentals to blockchain: Ubiquitous data – all data is synchronised between the participants behind the scenes. Immutable – data cannot be erased. It is a perfect audit trail with a one source of truce for the participants using the blockchain. Smart contracts – the capability of saying if a situation exists do something on the blockchain. It is a way of automating different processes that may exist on the blockchain.   What is the RiskBlock Alliance The Institute is an organisation that has been around for a hundred years in the property and casualty space. It provides education and research in that space. 18 months ago, the board of the Institute tasked the RiskBlock Alliances with: Proof of concept - could blockchain be used in the insurance space Proof of collaboration - can we get competing firms to work together around a common goal By June 2017, four proof of concepts were set up with over 40 insurance entities collaborating together, leading to the formation of the RiskBlock Alliance. In Chris’ opinion, one of the smartest things that the RiskBlock Alliance did was instead of jumping into the deep end of the pool was taking 12 weeks to really define what the RiskBlock Alliance was going to be and what value it will bring to its members. They created a consortium of insurance carriers, reinsurance and brokers to build a blockchain framework with multiple use cases on top of it. The framework is really key, as it is the first truly enterprise friendly reusable blockchain framework.   Why use blockchain? Prior to the RiskBlock Alliance one of the Institute’s members built a Proof of Concept for a compelling need in the insurance industry and tried to get the rest of their peers / competitors to join in. They received a lot of pushback from their competitors. RiskBlock being an independent trusted source was able to bring that exact same solution with the participation of all its members in the roll out of that particular use case. Blockchain is a “team sport”. If you are doing something that is individual to your organisation there are more likely better solutions out there than blockchain. However if you are looking to join together different entities and competitors and want to have them share information in an ubiquitous, secure and real time manner, then blockchain is the best solution for that.   Getting competing entities to work together Everyone seems to think that they have the secret sauce. In one example of a use case need around subrogation – the process between 2 insurance firms who are involved in an auto accident (for example) with a need to negotiate a final financial settlement. Arbitration may be involved and it’s a very painful manual process. By creating a blockchain solution you can automate that process and create efficiencies for all parties. Effectively the way to getting competitors to work together is by ensuring that the value they get is greater than their competitive fears.   Building a truly digital process 80% of blockchain use case are in the efficiency area. 20% is in new products, new channels, new ways of doing things. Most of the low hanging fruits is around those efficiency gains. With efficiency gains comes process improvement needs. To maximise on the full efficiency gains of blockchain, insurance companies also need to ensure that not only do they input data onto the blockchain but that their back end systems are upgraded from a manual to automated ones.   How does the RiskBlock Alliance compare to other consortiums like R3 and B3i?

The emerging distributed ledger software technology Blockchain, being developed for use in financial transactions, has applications in how we manage insurance information, too.  It could one day be used to reduce Florida's nearly 27% rate of uninsured drivers – the highest in the nation – while providing added convenience and money-saving efficiencies to both consumers and insurance companies.  Blockchain technology is also touted as an answer to the current climate of data breaches and compromised personal information.Host Lisa Miller, a former deputy insurance commissioner, talks with the leader of the insurance consortium applying Blockchain and a Florida State Senator who calls it the next wave in the insurance space, especially when it comes to fighting growing insurance fraud.  Guests on the podcast are Christopher McDaniel, Executive Director of the RiskBlock Alliance and Senator Jeff Brandes (R-Pinellas County) who discuss what exactly Blockchain is and isn't, how it's currently being used,  and the rapid growth opportunities this new technology represents.Show Notes:Blockchain is a new technology that is changing how we manage insurance information.  Blockchain is a distributed ledger software that uses a continuously growing list of records – known as blocks – that don't rely on a centralized third-party vendor to administer.  Instead, each party to a financial or other transaction is networked and has the original and updated versions of the transaction, which is contained on many different and anonymous blocks.   By its design, it's advertised as being highly resistant to any data modification by any single participant, once recorded.Christopher McDaniel of the RiskBlock Alliance said that Blockchain unfortunately has been made out to be very complicated and that it really isn't, despite lots of jargon that has confused both consumers and the insurance industry.  And while Bitcoin also uses Blockchain technology for public currency exchange, he said there is no connection between the crypto-currency and the RiskBlock Alliance efforts.“What Blockchain really brings first and foremost to the table is that the concept of transactions can go away.  Transactions being anything between two parties, whether that's the consumer and their insurance agent or whether it's the agent and the insurance carrier,” said McDaniel on the podcast.  “If you have a blockchain solution in place, everybody has ubiquitous instant access to that information.”  In addition to the information being made into an un-erasable permanent record, McDaniel said Blockchain is capable of using “Smart Contracts”, which use an “if-then” logic protocol to automate activities, saving time and cutting out middlemen.While Blockchain applications are still very new to the insurance industry, there are applications underway right now.  Nationwide Insurance just implemented Blockchain for proof of insurance, simplifying verification of automobile insurance coverage in real time and eliminating the need for paper ID cards.  McDaniel pointed out that right now, neither party in an auto accident really knows the other person has auto insurance.  They have paper insurance cards that say they do, but that insurance may have since been cancelled, prior to the accident.“Basically inside the mobile phone app is a plug-in, so that the two people involved in the accident can basically tap their phones together and in a matter of seconds it goes out to the Blockchain and it comes back down and says the other person has insurance and how much coverage they have,” explained McDaniel.Florida tops the nation in the number of uninsured drivers on its roadways.  The Insurance Research Council (IRC) says 26.7% of Florida drivers drive without auto insurance, according to its latest study based on 2015 data.  The insurance industry puts the average cost of an uninsured motorist claim at about $20,000, excluding any vehicle damage. The RiskBlock Alliance, which is part of The Institutes, an industry educational and research organization, has developed 30 different uses for Blockchain technology in managing insurance information.  The 23 companies currently involved in the Alliance include Nationwide, USAA, and Geico.  McDaniel said the number is expected to grow to nearly 60 companies by year end.  Florida State Senator Jeff Brandes (R-Pinellas County) is a believer in Blockchain's potential, especially in the Sunshine State, and has been urging greater awareness of the technology among his fellow legislators.  “My sense is that this is the next wave in the insurance space for transactions and they (legislators) need to be able to understand and begin to find and contemplate some of the opportunities that come along with this new technology,” he shared with host Lisa Miller and McDaniel.    Brandes and McDaniel agreed that Blockchain's proof of insurance capability could be expanded to proof of driver licenses, which would assist law enforcement and Florida's Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to identify people who shouldn't be driving.  Brandes said that seems like an area where some legislative authority would be required to pursue.“One of the big opportunities that Blockchain brings is the ability to reduce fraud.  To the extent that we can have all the other services and reduce fraud, I think you're going to see a variety of businesses begin to use it.  Many of them won't even know they're using Blockchain technology – it'll just be the new way to do business,” said Senator Brandes.  Not only are insurance companies starting to use Blockchain, but they're introducing it to their policyholders' businesses, too.   McDaniel's pointed to two sectors – energy and trucking transportation – as examples. “All the pieces and parts that they have need to be insured.  We're bringing efficiencies to them through the Blockchain.  A version of our proof of insurance solution for commercial trucking is reducing the current 30-minute manual process at depots…down to less than 30-seconds to prove insurance coverage.  That one check, with just one trucking logistics company, happens 200,000 times a day,” McDaniel said. “I think the exciting thing is that we're seeing rapid adoption of this technology, largely because it drives value for insurers,” added Senator Brandes.  “These insurance companies are very focused on reducing fraud.  Obviously they see that as a negative piece to their rate base and so the opportunity for them to speed along transactions, close things out quickly, and the idea of automatic transactions, I think really appeals to them and all are strong reasons why you're seeing large insurers begin to make this shift over.  And I think over time, that's only going to continue.”  Blockchain provides a unique set of data from which you can then apply analytics to ferret out fraud right from the beginning and put a stop to it in a more comprehensive way than previously available.  The other big consumer benefit to Blockchain technology is data security for its users.  McDaniel said the RiskBlock Alliance is looking closely at adopting the GDPR Rule, a European standard on information privacy and ownership, anticipating it will one day be the rule in the United States.  “Everybody's seen all the stuff in the news lately about Facebook.  It really centers around the customer's safety of their data, their right to control their data, and the right to be forgotten.  We're going to that level here right from the beginning in what we've built,” McDaniel said.  On the podcast, McDaniel also shares the RiskBlock Alliance's efforts to partner with the B3i, a European effort on the use of Blockchain technology in reinsurance.Host Lisa Miller noted that Blockchain represents an opportunity to bring insurance innovators together with public policy innovators to collaborate on creating new and better insurance products and services for the marketplace.  And what better place to do so than here in Florida?  She said that Blockchain could also help regulate our new medical marijuana industry here in Florida.  “There are exciting times indeed to look at technology that can help us work smarter – not harder – while providing enhanced consumer value and protection,” said Miller. Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  RiskBlock Alliance Webpage (https://www.theinstitutes.org/guide/riskblock) RiskBlock Alliance – Blockchain: The Link to Success (http://lisamillerassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Introductory-Brochure-with-Use-Cases_FINAL.pdf)  Senator Jeff Brandes Legislative Webpage (http://flsenate.gov/Senators/s24) Blockchain could ‘revolutionize' insurance  (from Business Insurance 3/16/18) (http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20180316/NEWS06/912319906/Blockchain-could-revolutionize-insurance) ** The Listener Call-In Line for your recorded questions and comments to air in future episodes is 850-388-8002 or you may send email to LisaMiller@LisaMillerAssociates.com **The Florida Insurance Roundup from Lisa Miller & Associates, brings you the latest developments in Property & Casualty, Healthcare, Workers' Compensation, and Surplus Lines insurance from around the Sunshine State.  Based in the state capital of Tallahassee, Lisa Miller & Associates provides its clients with focused, intelligent, and cost conscious solutions to their business development, government consulting, and public relations needs.  On the web at www.LisaMillerAssociates.com or call 850-222-1041.  Your questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome! Date of Recording 4/13/18. Email via info@LisaMillerAssociates.com   Composer: www.TeleDirections.com

Innovator's Edge CEO Wayne Allen interviews Christopher McDaniel, Executive Director of the RiskBlock Alliance, on how it is developing blockchain solutions for the insurance industry.