For delivery at the ‘Economic implications of the digital economy’ joint conference hosted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Reserve Bank of Australia, 9-10 March 2022, Sydney.
Actuaries Institute CEO Elayne Grace is presenting a paper on Big data and the digital economy: Benefits and pitfalls in the insurance industry, at the joint Australian Bureau of Statistics and Reserve Bank of Australia Conference Economic Implications of the Digital Economy.
With the digital transformation of the global economy, and more businesses becoming reliant on data analytics and artificial intelligence, a new world order is being introduced. This shift reflects the fact that every company is, in many ways, a data and analytics company.
Since at least the 18th century, actuaries (often referred to as the original data scientists) have used data, statistics, commercial acumen and more recently, computing power and algorithms, to support businesses. Actuaries are well placed to consider the public interest implications as digitalisation becomes ubiquitous.
While actuaries work in many of sectors of the economy this paper, focusing mainly on insurance, covers:
- managing data, algorithms and new data analytic techniques;
- the consequences of wholesale re-pricing of risk;
- benefits from digitalisation especially in fintech and insurtech; and
- public policy and regulatory implications.
Data can influence every sector of the economy, from retail and critical infrastructure like energy, telecoms, and public transport, to financial services and social structures like superannuation, disability, and health insurance, it can change lives for the better. The bigger the data, the more safeguards Australians will need.
In this age of data, the actuarial profession looks forward to maximising the benefits for society as we seize these vast digital opportunities.