The metaverse is a concept making headlines across the globe, with its application being imagined across all industries. However, until recently, the practical manifestation and future impact of the metaverse was unknown. The newly-released Insurance Tech Vision for 2022 not only defines the metaverse, but contains valuable, timely insights for insurers on how the metaverse is ushering in the next wave of digital change.

Accenture defines the “Metaverse Continuum” as a spectrum of digitally enhanced worlds, realities and business models poised to revolutionize life and enterprise in the next decade. This applies across all aspects of business, from consumer to worker and across the enterprise; from reality to virtual and back. The metaverse continuum is being built on a wide range of mature and emerging technologies. These technologies include artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), blockchain, digital twins, edge technologies, cloud, digital currencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), social platforms, ecommerce, and digital marketplaces.

What does this mean for the insurance industry? Whether for an enterprise or consumers, the metaverse has different platforms, partners, and technologies at its core. As the next evolution of the Internet, the metaverse will be a continuum of technologies, working together, to create immersive content and experiences. The metaverse continuum will elevate expectations for how insurers interact with customers, what products and experiences they design and distribute, and how they operate their organizations. It will also require a wider digital and creative skill set to bring this digital reality to life.

The Insurance Technology Vision explores how these innovations are becoming the building blocks of the insurance industry’s future. Insurers who understand these trends and what they mean for customers will be well poised to gain a competitive advantage.

The implications of the following four Tech Vision trends for insurers are covered in the report:

• WebMe – Putting the me in metaverse.
  Given the seamless, decentralized nature of Web3, formulating ecosystem partnerships and their ensuing cloud transformations will be essential for insurers.
• Programmable world – Our planet, personalised.
  Technology advances like 5G and devices like AR glasses are changing the way insurers access and relate to the physical world, offering new levels of control, automation, and personalization.
• The Unreal – Making synthetic authentic.
  As bad actors take advantage of new attack surfaces in the metaverse, insurers will play an essential role in mitigating the risk.
• Computing the impossible – New Machines, new possibilities.
  The ability of insurers to quickly process enormous datasets from multiple sources will transform risk modeling and decision effectiveness.

As you will discover, there is a compelling case for the Metaverse within insurance, from shifting revenues and distribution models to new workforce training experiences, with some leading insurers already taking advantage of the trend. In this series, I will be looking deeper into some of this year’s Tech Vision trends, sharing my own current examples of insurers who are pioneering the application of the metaverse in our industry.

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