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Introduction: The world is passing through a technology explosion phase where one technology is being replaced by another very quickly. Emerging technologies play more important roles in the insurance sector directly or indirectly. These technologies have a high potential to change the insurance paradigm.

Purpose: In this chapter, we discuss emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, the internet of things (IoT), mobile technology, predictive analytics, social media, telematics, chatbots, low codes, and drones in the context of the insurance industry.

Methodology: To carry out our analysis, we searched for data using the keywords for each technology from the Web of Science (WoS) coral database. Certain inclusion and exclusion criteria were followed to select the articles for further analysis. R-studio was used for the data analysis and visualisation.

Findings: It was found that the highest number of research articles published are related to big data, followed by AI and social media. The first article on AI in insurance appeared in 1975. Social media is the highest cited new technology, whereas the low codes are the undiscovered paradigm for the insurance sector with no published research. Research on the impact of chatbots, drones, and mobile technology in the insurance industry is still at a nascent stage. We also noticed that the United States is leading the research on emerging technologies in the insurance sector.

Implications: This chapter audits the emerging technologies in the insurance sector and identifies technological areas with the highest, least, or no research, dominant journals, authors, and countries. This holistic overview empowers managers and academicians to decide the future course of action.

Purpose – This chapter discusses the relationship between health insurance and hospitals’ decisions to adopt medical technologies. I focus on both how the extent of insurance coverage can increase incentives to adopt new treatments, and how the parameters of the insurance contract can impact the types of treatments adopted.

Methodology/approach – I provide a review of the previous theoretical and empirical literature and highlight evidence on this relationship from previous expansions of Medicaid eligibility to low-income pregnant women.

Findings – While health insurance has important effects on individual-level choices of health care consumption, increases in the fraction of the population covered by insurance has also been found to have broader supply side effects as hospitals respond to changes in demand by changing the type of care offered. Furthermore, hospitals respond to the design of insurance contracts and adopt more or less cost-effective technologies depending on the incentive system.

Research limitations/implications – Understanding how insurance changes supply side incentives is important as we consider future changes in the insurance landscape.

Originality/value of paper – With these previous findings in mind, I conclude with a discussion of how the Affordable Care Act may alter hospital technology adoption incentives by both expanding coverage and changing payment schemes.

Introduction: The insurance sector provides security to society by pooling resources to manage risks. Insurers’ improved ability to analyse risks by examining vast amounts of granular data has considerably refined this technique. Compiling and analysing the fine data sets is now transformed into the ‘Big Data’ technique. The introduction of big data analytics (BDA) is transforming the insurance industry and the role data plays in insurance.

Purpose: This chapter will attempt to examine the applications and role of big data in the insurance sector and how big data affects the different insurance segments like health insurance, property and casualty, and travel insurance. This chapter will also describe the disruptive impact of big data on the insurance market.

Methodology: Systematic research is carried out by analysing case studies and literature studies, emphasising how BDA is revolutionary for the insurance market. For this purpose, various articles and studies on BDA in the insurance market are selected and studied.

Findings: The execution of big data is continuously increasing in the insurance sector. The performance of big data in the insurance market results in cost reduction, better access to insurance services, and more fraud detection that benefits the customers and stakeholders. Therefore, big data has revolutionised the insurance market and assisted insurers in targeting customers more precisely.

Introduction: Blockchain is gaining attention in various industries and sectors. It is described as an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet has revolutionised how businesses are currently carried out. Still, various sectors have either not adopted or are in a very nascent stage to adopt blockchain technology in their operations. The current research examines how blockchain can be used in the insurance sector. This industry was chosen as it is extremely relevant in today’s world and directly bears its economy.

Purpose: To determine the current and future path in which the insurance industry is moving about blockchain technology adoption and find synergy between blockchain technology and the insurance business.

Need for study: The insurance industry is highly relevant in today’s world and directly bears the country’s economy. Additionally, blockchain is an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet has revolutionised how businesses are done. The current research looks at how blockchain can be used in the insurance business.

Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted in this study by reviewing literature related to blockchain technology and the insurance sector. Science direct was used as a source of information. For this study, the literature review approach was chosen since it allows us to trace the growth of the subject matter and identify the patterns that have formed through time.

Findings: The study found that the insurance sector has recognised the latent benefits of blockchain technology and has begun to develop its usage in selected cases such as fraud prevention and risk assessment.

Practical implications: The current study can be referred to by academicians, marketers, industry people, and policymakers. The study encourages companies and academicians to further investigate the usage of blockchain in insurance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the operational and regulatory positions of the employment of Blockchain in the insurance industry. Blockchain technology has attracted wide interest from various stakeholders. Many theorists are predicting that this technology will disrupt financial services, including insurance. As stated that the development of blockchain is dependent on regulatory acceptance of this technology, it is essential to establish the current state of play with regard to the application and use of blockchain from a commercial and regulatory standpoints.

This review encompasses a number of approaches to view the current status of Blockchain applications. From a commercial approach, this research lists the current applications of blockchain within the insurance industry. From a regulatory point of view, the current positions of the EU and national regulatory bodies are enquired upon to establish how they are examining FinTech and Blockchain technologies within their regulatory processes.

This review illustrates a number of Blockchain applications in situ from a commercial point of view. From a regulatory setting and following a call from international and EU levels, it appears that various regulatory bodies have begun the process of formulating testing processes for FinTech applications. There are two predominant types in operation, while others are forming points of contact for advice for FinTechs and a small amount who have not begun the process at all.

This review illustrates the current state of play of blockchain in insurance from a commercial and regulatory point of view. While this has been observational, this review pulls together information from various sources to encapsulate the regulatory positioning of evaluating FinTech and Blockchain technologies for academia, regulatory and industry audiences.

This review offers a central resource of information with regard to the current state of blockchain technologies in operation and regulatory approaches to this and other FinTech developments.

Social health insurance framework of any country is the national identifier of the country’s policy for taking care of its population which cannot access or afford quality healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the strategic imperatives of digital technology for the inclusive social health models for the BoP customers.

A qualitative exploratory study using in-depth personal interviews with 53 Indian health insurance CXOs was conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire. Using MaxQDA software, the interview transcripts were analyzed by means of thematic content analysis technique and patterns identified based on the expert opinions.

A framework for the strategic imperatives of digital technology in social health insurance emerged from the study highlighting three key themes for technology implementation in the social health insurance sector – analytics for risk management, cost optimization for operations and enhancement of customer experience. The study results provide key insights about how insurers can enhance the coverage of BoP population by leveraging technology.

The framework would help health insurers and policymakers to select strategic choices related to technology that would enable creation of inclusive health insurance models for BoP customers.

The absence of specific studies highlighting the strategic digital imperatives in social health insurance creates a unique value proposition for this framework which can help health insurers in developing a convergence in their risk management and customer delight objectives and assist the government in the formulation of a sustainable social health insurance framework.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of weather index insurance on agricultural technology adoption in rural China.

A field experiment was conducted with 344 rural households/farmers in Heilongjiang and Jiangsu Provinces, China. DID model was used to evaluate farmers’ technology adoption with and without index insurance.

The results show that weather index insurance has a significant effect on the technology adoption of rural households; there is a regional difference in this effect between Heilongjiang and Jiangsu. Weather index insurance promotes technology adoption of rural households in Heilongjiang, while has limited impact on those in Jiangsu. Weather, planting scale and risk preference are also important factors influencing the technology adoption of rural households.

This research is subject to some limitations. First, the experimental parameters are designed according to the actual situation to simulate reality, but the willingness in the experiment does not mean it will be put into action in reality. Second, due to the diversity of China’s climate, geography and economic environment, rural households are heterogeneous in rural China. Whether the conclusion can be generalized beyond the study area is naturally questionable. A study with more diverse samples is needed to gain a fuller understanding of index insurance’s effects on farmers in China.

This research provides a rigorous empirical analysis on the impact of weather index insurance on farmers’ agricultural technology adoption through a carefully designed field experiment.

Introduction: The internet of things (IoT) is the emerging technology of interconnected objects that can be termed as ‘things’ used to exchange data, connecting with different devices on the internet. It is the future where connected devices are controlled remotely. The insurance sector is one of the leading industries providing financial protection services to their customers to recover losses. Like others, the insurance industry uses the services very efficiently to solve their customer-centric problems and provide the best services to them. IoT in insurance is enhancing customer services.

Purpose: To determine how the insurance industry utilises the different IoT technologies to provide the best services and solutions to their users. The insurance sector is working on other areas of expertise to offer outstanding facilities to their clientele.

Methodology: We reviewed published material covering five years on IoT and insurance and customer services in the media, newspapers, journal publications, and the web. We determined how the insurance sector adapted the new terminology to contribute its best services to the users.

Findings: We observed that IoT services and technologies benefit the insurance industry and the clientele. This shows excellent results in the growth of the sector and heightened facilities for the consumers.

Purpose: Blockchain is the most significant technological innovation of the generation following the internet. However, most individuals are unaware of how it will affect the insurance business.

Design/methodology/approach: The present study utilises a systematic review methodology to assess the existing literature on blockchain technology in the insurance industry.

Findings: Currently, few insurance companies are researching and using blockchain technology for automated claims, fraud detection, and cash flow tracking. The use of blockchain technology in the insurance business is still in its early stages, and many significant issues remain unsolved. This chapter lays out the discussions regarding the current state of blockchain technology in the insurance business.

Practical implications: Using distributed ledger technology (DLT), all the stakeholders can easily exchange the relevant information on a real-time basis. In particular, blockchain technology will help all insurance companies minimise discrepancies related to fraudulent claims by keeping track of the customer’s history of the customer reducing administrative costs.

Originality/value: It has been observed that very few studies have been conducted in this field. This is a holistic study that focuses on the applications of blockchain technology in various non-life insurance segments.

This study aims to explore the impact of the adoption of wearable technology products for Indian health insurance firms. It identifies the key dynamic capabilities that health insurance firms should build to manage big data generated by wearable technology so as to attain a competitive advantage.

A qualitative exploratory study using in-depth personal interviews with 53 Indian health insurance experts was conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire. The data were coded using holistic and pattern codes and then analyzed using the content analysis technique. The findings were based on the thematic and relational intensity analysis of the codes.

An empirical model was established where all the propositions were strongly established except for the moderate relationship between wearable technology adoption and product innovation. The study established the nature of the interaction of variables on technology policy, organizational culture, strategic philosophy, product innovation, knowledge management and customer service quality with wearable technology adoption and also ascertained its influence on firm performance and competitive advantage.

From a dynamic capabilities perspective, this study deliberates on wearable technology adoption in the health insurance context. It also explicates the relationship between the variables on technology policy, organizational culture, strategic philosophy, product innovation, knowledge management and customer service quality with wearable technology adoption on firm performance.

This study is one of the first studies to add the context of wearable technology and health insurance to the existing body of knowledge on dynamic capabilities and sustainable competitive advantage for the service sector. It would help existing and prospective players in adopting or setting up appropriate business models.