TORONTO, Dec. 8, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, the General Insurance Statistical Agency (GISA) is taking further steps toward modernizing its service delivery infrastructure to enhance its data collection and reporting functions. As part of the modernization, GISA is pleased to announce that transition to its new Statistical Service Provider (SSP) has begun.
As first announced in its April 12, 2022 bulletin to GISA stakeholders, GISA has selected IBM Canada (NYSE: IBM) to assume the role of SSP effective October 1, 2023, with responsibility for modernizing GISA's service delivery infrastructure and carrying out statistical data operations on behalf of nine insurance regulatory authorities and more than 140 property and casualty insurers across Canada.
The transition to the new SSP officially began on October 4, 2022. During the transition, GISA will work with stakeholders, by way of an Industry Advisory Committee (IAC), to inform decisions related to the transition to IBM Canada from the incumbent SSP. Working closely with IBM Canada and tapping into the expertise offered by the IAC, GISA will also take the first steps on its roadmap toward business transformation. During this phase, IBM Canada will design, build, test and deploy the enabling technology platform that will allow it to perform the Managed Services and realize GISA's longer-term business transformation goals.
"I'm happy to share that the General Insurance Statistical Agency (GISA) has selected IBM Canada as its technology solution partner to modernize our data platform and operate as our Statistical Service Provider," said Laurie Balfour, GISA Chair. "This announcement marks the beginning of a strategic relationship that will deliver great value to insurers and rate regulators by improving statistical data quality and reliability, while enabling operational efficiency and effectiveness for GISA."
As the statistical agent for the insurance industry and regulators, GISA provides statutory and regulatory reporting for the property and casualty insurance industry through its SSP. IBM Canada will assume operations of statistical plans for deeper data analysis and reliability, as well as greater operational efficiency, adaptability to regulator priorities and engagement with insurers and regulators.
"Accuracy and reliability are critical for accessing and analyzing data, but so is efficiency and speed," said Daniel Shum, senior partner and insurance practice leader with IBM Canada. "These elements will be central to our approach as we work with GISA to transform their data capabilities and delivery of statistical services to meet the evolving needs of their industry stakeholders."
Details concerning the IAC will be communicated in a subsequent communiqué and bulletin to GISA stakeholders, as will more detailed information about the transition to the new SSP. Note that no immediate changes to naming conventions, company or user IDs, or to the timing, frequency of file format of data submissions, is foreseen with the transition to the new SSP in 2022-23.
To provide regulators, insurers and other GISA stakeholders with up-to-date information about the transition to the new SSP, a dedicated webpage is under development on the GISA website (www.gisa.ca) and will be live in the coming weeks. All GISA stakeholders will be encouraged to visit the webpage regularly for information and assistance pertinent to the transition. The webpage will include regularly updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
If you have any immediate questions regarding the business transformation or GISA's SSP transition to IBM Canada, please contact GISA at [email protected].
GISA operates as a statistical agent on behalf of the insurance regulatory authorities of Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Yukon. GISA is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit corporation governed by a Board of Directors with representation from the nine participating regulators, the property and casualty insurance industry, and the public.
For more information about GISA, visit: www.GISA.ca.
IBM Canada is an information technology company providing integrated solutions that leverage industry knowledge, best practices and business processes. IBM Canada brings a wealth of industry expertise and knowledge to its offerings and leverages the larger IBM ecosystem to provide a wide variety of services and solutions offerings including cloud, cognitive, AI, security, infrastructure, consulting, networking, software and more.
For more information about IBM Canada, visit: www.ibm.com/ca-en.
SOURCE General Insurance Statistical Agency
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