Former Executive Director of PICC P&C Insurance: Innovation and Development of Insurance Blockchain

Author: Wang and

Source: Wang He Space

Perhaps everyone did not think that on October 24, 2019, the theme of the 18th collective study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee was the “ blockchain ”. This has not only aroused the great attention of the whole society, but also attracted widespread attention from the international community, because what is the connection between the highest level of a big country and a new field of information technology is undoubtedly worthy of deep thinking. Because, this is certainly not just a simple collective learning. Through the disclosure of information, people can clearly see the forward-looking and strategic thinking of Chinese leaders and the thinking, path and goals of China's development of blockchain technology.

Blockchain and insurance can be described as " previous life ", most concentrated and prominently embodied as " social. " Both of them are responsible for managing and coordinating the relationship between individuals and groups (interests), not only characteristics, but also good at it. The social nature of insurance is the basis of the system, and it is innate. The social nature of the blockchain is determined by the technical characteristics, and it is the “depending on the living”. An important premise of the modern insurance system is the “big number” rule, the core appeal of insurance management, is to achieve and coordinate the collection of individuals, reach a collective consensus, and manage the insurance fund fairly and fairly. The important premise of blockchain technology is the consensus of the whole network, that is, the collective consensus of all participants, while no longer relying on the tangible “center”, but through the distributed technology, self and democratic management. At the same time, combined with the use of encryption technology, the blockchain can build a computing-based trust system, namely machine trust, or rigid trust, which is more objective, independent and credible, and thus build a more fair, just and efficient society. Credit system. It can be seen that sociality is a common feature of insurance and blockchain, and both have “ gene similarity ”, which is the logical basis for the integration and innovation of insurance and blockchain. In addition to sociality, the uniqueness , timeliness and efficiency of insurance and blockchain also have a " indissoluble bond ." These are the logical basis for the integration of insurance and blockchain. Therefore, insurance is a typical scenario of blockchain technology application, and blockchain is an important force for insurance innovation.

• The contemptuous currency circle is dying? Blockchain enters the era of ecological "card war"
• Analysis: Ethereum's ecosystem is booming and ETH prices may be undervalued
• Data to | Within a week, the day of trading BTC will not be lost?

The research and utilization of China's insurance blockchain technology started earlier. The industry has carried out a series of research, exploration and practice, and has achieved many research results and success stories. However, the audience is still in the initial stage of “ conceptuality ”. Therefore, when the “window” of developing blockchain technology comes again, the insurance industry needs to combine the previous work, especially to comprehensively evaluate the achievements and existing problems, and rethink the basic logic and development of the insurance blockchain application. Ideas, application frameworks and scientific paths, answer and practice well: what is the blockchain, why develop blockchains, how to develop blockchains and other basic issues, to achieve the re-starting of the innovation and development of insurance blockchains New breakthrough .

I. The development of blockchain innovation in the insurance industry

Reviewing the history of China's insurance blockchain innovation development, as early as 2016, Sunshine Insurance took the lead in the insurance industry to introduce the application based on the blockchain concept, namely, using blockchain technology as the underlying technology architecture, and launched the " Sunshine Bay " score. After that, the "blockchain + aviation accident insurance card list" was launched. In a strict sense, these still belong to a kind of "edge" application. However, these actions have opened the way for the application of insurance blockchain, which has aroused widespread concern in the whole industry. In 2017, the research and application of the blockchain comprehensively carried out by PICC P&C insurance was on the one hand aimed at the “pain point” in the insurance business, using blockchain technology to provide solutions, and researching and implementing the “ blockchain beef cattle breeding insurance ”. The project solved the “unique problem” that has long plagued the insurance insurance, solved the financing difficulties of farmers and achieved good results. At the same time, in response to the efficiency problem of marketing management, the “ People's Insurance V League ” project was developed, and a new model of blockchain marketing management was created. On the other hand, in cooperation with the China Insurance Association, it systematically researched the application of blockchain technology in the insurance field and released the world's first white paper on Insurance Blockchain Research in both Chinese and English.

The release of the white paper further promoted the research and development of blockchain insurance technology in the whole industry. As the important public platform of the industry, the Shanghai Insurance Exchange has been focusing on, focusing on and investing in the research and development of the insurance blockchain, and established a special team. It has created a “ guarantee chain ” and has become the industry's first blockchain technology platform. On this basis, based on the difficulties of residential catastrophe insurance operation management, a blockchain-based operation platform was developed to create a management model of “ common body + blockchain ”. As an industry information technology service platform, China Insurance Company carried out related research and development work for the insurance blockchain utilization. In August 2018, it launched an electronic policy service platform with blockchain technology for all electronic insurance policies and The track of change trajectory solves the problem of unilateral tampering and creates a trusted platform for open policy management.

As the first Internet insurance company in China, Zhongan Insurance has always used blockchain technology as an important foundation and core capability to build an Internet insurance business model, in order to break through the trust and management problems of the “online model”. In the insurance blockchain application field, a series of basic researches have been carried out, and related research institutes have been issued, and special reports such as the White Paper on Insurance of Custody Based on Blockchain Assets Agreement have been released. " Life " project. In addition, for the supply chain insurance scenario, the “ Public Enterprise Security ” platform was developed and became the “big family” of insurance blockchain technology patent applications. In terms of specific applications, following the early “ step-by-step chicken ” project, under the guidance of the Shanghai Insurance Regulatory Bureau, the inter-company reinsurance trading platform was built using the blockchain technology for the “reinsurance problem” of Internet health insurance.

Reinsurance is undoubtedly a typical scenario for the application of insurance blockchain. On the one hand, the traditional reinsurance transaction structure is complex, the efficiency is relatively low, and the transparency is not high, which has become the " black box " of business management. On the other hand, blockchain technology, especially smart contract technology, can well solve the "pain point" of traditional reinsurance. A study shows that the blockchain can save $5-10 billion annually for the reinsurance industry. To this end, in June 2018, China Re Group and Hannover Re, General Motors, Zhongan Insurance, Intel Corporation and other institutions jointly issued the " Reinsurance Blockchain White Paper ", and initiated the establishment of a reinsurance blockchain intercompany trading platform to the district The blockchain is the core technology to jointly build a reinsurance platform to improve transaction efficiency and accelerate the application of blockchain technology in the field of reinsurance.

In the development of mutual insurance, the biggest problem is how to solve the problem of trust crisis in the " post-trust " mode. With the help of network-wide consensus, algorithmic trust and distributed features, blockchain technology provides a new perspective and possibility for rebuilding trust, and provides technical realization for the establishment of “post-trust” model, which will become the key technology for mutual insurance development. And spawned the mutual insurance 2.0 era . Xinmei has developed a mutual insurance management account platform based on blockchain technology. In Xinmei's love rescue blockchain account, each fund flow is open and transparent, and the flow of funds cannot be tampered with. The location and use of funds are available. Traces are available. At the same time, the Internet mutual help platform, such as public support, water droplets, easy financing and Ant Financial, also carried out a series of exploration and practice around the use of blockchain technology to solve the Internet trust problem, such as the “ heart chain ” project launched by the public support. .

In addition, many companies in the insurance industry have adopted different forms and actively participated in the research and application of blockchain technology. China Life Overseas Co., Ltd. cooperated with Guangdong Development Bank to develop a blockchain policy information management system. Pacific Insurance and JD.com launched the nation's first electronic invoice project based on blockchain technology. Taikang Insurance has launched a point management platform based on blockchain technology. Huatai Insurance and China Rehabilitation Insurance launched a health insurance product based on blockchain technology. Love Life and Tencent cooperate to develop insurance blockchain projects. Sunshine Insurance has launched a block-based female-specific disease insurance product. Taiping Insurance has developed a blockchain-based pension escrow project. In addition, the financial account of Ping An Insurance has also carried out some exploration and practice around the insurance blockchain.

Second, some suggestions on the innovation and development of insurance industry blockchain

Facing the future, the insurance industry will usher in a new era of blockchain innovation and development. The innovation and development of the insurance industry blockchain can be divided into two perspectives. One is the re-creation of traditional insurance, that is, the difficulty and pain point of traditional insurance, and the use of blockchain technology to propose a new solution. The second is to use blockchain technology to carry out insurance innovation , especially in terms of fragmentation, scenario and personalization. Blockchain technology can better solve the “ last mile ” problem of insurance innovation, such as preventing moral hazard and privacy protection. Information security. At the same time, the insurance industry needs to grasp the overall situation, improve its position, and strive to create a new situation in the development of the insurance blockchain and achieve new development. It is important to focus on rebuilding trust, cracking " unique dilemmas ", strengthening space-time management, and improving operational efficiency. As a premise, it is necessary to further scientifically plan based on the top-level design, further consolidate the foundation, and need to follow the problem-oriented, truth-seeking and pragmatic, key breakthroughs, strengthen management, and achieve new breakthroughs in the development of insurance blockchain.

The first is the top-level design, which forms a synergy . In the development process of the insurance blockchain in the early stage, there is a prominent problem that they are fighting each other and relatively disordered. Therefore, both the underlying technology and the scene application have problems of multiple attacks and repeated construction. The next step is to study and formulate the overall planning and implementation roadmap for the insurance industry blockchain development under the leadership of the regulatory authorities and industry platform organizations. In particular, it is necessary to clarify the industry's standards, technologies and application boundaries to avoid confusion and confusion. At the same time, the industry needs to build a platform, such as “ insurance blockchain technology alliance ”, gather industry forces, form effective synergies, avoid redundant construction, realize resource sharing, and jointly promote the progress of relevant policies, regulations, systems, standards and regulations. In addition, we must pay attention to the status quo and trends of blockchain technology development, and effectively improve the ability to use and manage blockchain technology.

The second is problem-oriented, truth-seeking and pragmatic . In the development process of China's insurance blockchain, the problem of " concept-oriented " is more prominent, that is, some projects are not aimed at and solve the problems of industry management, but " blockchain for blockchain ", a few projects Even for the concept of hype, the vitality of the project is not strong, and the result is often " no end of the disease ", no longer. There are also some projects that belong to the “ pseudo-blockchain project ”, that is, the “flag” of the blockchain, and the project basically does not involve the core technology of the blockchain. In the next step, the industry needs to study and master the blockchain technology, carefully analyze the “pain points” and difficulties in the development and innovation of the industry, and use the “bright spots” of blockchain technology to propose innovative solutions to effectively solve the problem. The last mile" problem is to develop the insurance blockchain technology in a pragmatic way, especially to develop blockchain projects in the true sense.

The third is to lay a solid foundation and standardize development . Blockchain technology has the characteristics of “ new pot old wine ”, which is an innovative application based on existing technology. There is also the characteristics of innovation and development, that is, with the application, the development of new technologies. In the early work of the industry, more is the simple use, lack of investment in basic technology research and development. Judging from the current situation, some insurance institutions, such as PICC, Ping An Insurance, Zhong An Insurance and Shanghai Stock Exchange, pay more attention to the basic technology field and have invested a lot, and have formed certain technological advantages. At the same time, as a national team for insurance informationization, Zhongkesoft has done a lot of work in the standard setting of insurance blockchain, and has strong strength and foundation. In the next step, the industry needs to further gather industry power, increase research and development of the basic field of blockchain technology, especially relevant standards and open source platforms, build the foundation and public platform for the development of industrial blockchain, and build insurance blockchain technology. Project and industry incubation base.

The fourth is open cooperation and synergy . As a cutting-edge technology field, the insurance industry needs to increase its investment and form its own technical capabilities and advantages. However, from a pragmatic point of view, the insurance industry should not “ single-handedly ” and it is not possible to “ set up another door ”. At the same time, many excellent blockchain technology companies hope to cooperate with the insurance industry to jointly develop and build a blockchain technology platform and business model based on insurance. In the next step, the industry should actively explore cooperation with blockchain technology companies with a more open attitude, open up business scenarios, clarify business needs, and jointly develop insurance blockchain applications. On the one hand, we can better utilize blockchain fields. The latest technology, borrowing ships to go out to sea , to create advantages, on the other hand, can also reduce their own investment, improve efficiency, and achieve cooperation and win-win. In addition, we must pay close attention to the development of foreign insurance blockchain technology and strengthen information and technology exchanges between peers.

The fifth is to cultivate talents and build capabilities . Talent is the key to developing insurance blockchain technology. The application of insurance blockchain technology not only needs to master blockchain technology, but also requires a deep understanding of insurance, especially the difficulty and understanding of management difficulties and "pain points", and combines it with blockchain technology. At the same time, blockchain technology applications cannot be “single-handedly” and need to be combined and integrated with other technologies, such as biometrics, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, etc. Therefore, the biggest challenge of insurance blockchain application is talent, especially cross-border. Compound talents. In the next step, the industry needs to pay close attention to the insurance blockchain talents, especially the cultivation of composite architects, to create a variety of high-level talent training platforms, and to cultivate a group of industry leaders and high-level innovation teams.

The sixth is to strengthen management and prevent abuse . In the process of developing China's blockchain technology, a prominent problem is that the "coin" of the forest has been the "flag" of blockchain technology. Through various ICO models, it has become a financial chaos. Important form. From the previous situation, there is no " blockchain chaos " in the insurance field, but this does not mean that the insurance industry is absolutely safe. In the new round of blockchain technology development process, it is necessary to be highly vigilant against the use of the concept of “insurance blockchain” to swindle and swindle, which will adversely affect the development of the industry, especially the insurance blockchain. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the guidance and regulation of blockchain technology, guide and promote blockchain developers and platform operators to strengthen industry self-discipline and implement safety responsibilities to ensure sustainable and healthy development.

(published on November 11, 2019, "Bank of China Insurance News")

About the Author:

Wang He: Ph.D.; Senior Economist; State Council Specialist for Special Allowances; Special Expert of National Disaster Reduction Center; Deputy Secretary General of China Insurance Association; Vice President of China Association of Actuaries; Visiting Professor and Researcher of Peking University and Tsinghua University Boss. Former Executive Director and Vice President of PICC P&C Insurance.

We will continue to update Blocking; if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us!