In response to an ever-increasing number of major catastrophes across the globe, insurers are scrambling to secure sufficient data to respond to such crises.
Against this backdrop, McKenzie Intelligence Services launched Global Events Observer (GEO), a geospatial software-as-a-service platform for the insurance industry, in August 2021.
It was immediately adopted as the central catastrophe intelligence platform for Lloyd's of London, and to date, it has secured over 1,200 users servicing more than 70 clients and processed over 150 global events.
GEO uses a breadth of data sources from global providers to offer peril coverage including satellite imagery, radar, drones, mobile phone data, social media and sensors. As a result, insurers are equipped with more timely and accurate data on perils worldwide, enabling improved post-loss assessments, executive decision-making and risk management.
In a notable example, GEO was deployed by Swiss insurance group Zurich and allowed the insurer to make same-day payments on claims following the earthquake sequence in Turkey and Syria in February 2023.
Rosina Smith, chief product officer at McKenzie Intelligence Services, puts the award down to a "relentless focus on clients' problems".
"Since launching GEO we have made several releases to ensure that it answers the growing concerns of our clients and do all we can to only include high value developments."
Smith also explains insurers expect the firm to bring the latest developments from geospatial and space technology industries "in a format which they can use for their own event response, but also to support that of their loss adjustors and risk managers".
"We will continue to work closely with our clients to establish pain points, and in doing so, will continue to bring the latest geospatial developments to the market - be that through provision of more granular imagery, broader data types and so on."
Smith adds: "We will also be prioritising partnerships with organisations that allow the value from our products to be further accessible to more teams during those crucial post-event days."
