Consumers across the globe desire humanized experiences when navigating the insurance industry

Duck Creek Technologies launches the second edition of the Global Consumer Insurance Insights survey of over 2,000 global consumers, aimed at refining the strategies that bring insurers closer to consumers worldwide

Boston / London, May 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Duck Creek Technologies, the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance, has proudly published its second annual benchmark survey, the 2023 Global Consumer Insurance Insights. The survey reveals strong demand from global consumers for humanized insurance purchasing, switching and communication experiences through digital channels.

The 2023 wave of research – which is being launched at the Duck Creek Technologies Formation ‘23 event for customers and partners from May 8-10, was conducted independently by Research in Finance for Duck Creek Technologies and surveyed over 2,000 policyholders across 13 countries, all of whom held at least one insurance policy.

Aimed at refining the strategies that bring insurers closer to consumers worldwide, this year’s survey is more extensive than the inaugural 2022 edition, with more questions and responses from policyholders across more countries. The survey provides insights for carriers, reflecting consumer preferences and awareness of innovation opportunities, purchasing, and communication methods.

Key findings from the survey include:

 

  • 93% of consumers are confident they have the proper coverage, irrespective of which channel they used to purchase the insurance policy.
  • Once a policy is in place, 44% of consumers prefer human interaction (2022: 35%). At the same time, however, interest in app/WhatsApp usage for buying and switching insurance also increased year-over-year.
  • 46% of global consumers are unaware of embedded insurance. Of those who were aware (37%), almost half said they trust it because of product or retailer quality. Those who do not trust it (26%) find embedded insurance unnecessary and expensive. Those who are unsure (29%) require more information, having had little experience with embedded insurance.

The survey reveals significant positives for insurance providers and clearly shows they are getting it right in many areas. However, it also highlights areas where insurers must reflect and improve further – including bolstering global consumer confidence and trust in insurance.

According to Jess Keeney, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Duck Creek, “As the insurance industry continues to evolve, it is crucial for providers to listen to the needs and preferences of their customers. The 2023 Duck Creek Technologies benchmark survey provides invaluable insights into consumer behaviors and trends, highlighting the areas where insurers can maximize accessibility, accelerate speed to market, and differentiate competitively.”

While the survey shows that carriers around the world are responding quickly to consumer demand for more relevant and timely products and services, it also reveals that a significant number of consumers prefer a humanized experience when interacting with their insurance providers. This emphasizes the importance of exploring ground-breaking and varying communication options to meet the needs of diverse customers.

Keeney adds, “It is encouraging to see that despite the challenging economic environment, people are re-evaluating their insurance needs and considering a wider range of products. Mobile and gadget insurance, travel insurance, and embedded insurance are being purchased more frequently than other types of insurance.

Duck Creek’s 2023 survey is a vital resource for insurance providers, offering unique insights into customer perceptions and highlighting the next opportunities for innovation. We urge providers to delve deeply into the results and continue pushing the frontiers of the insurance industry forward.”

Research in Finance Head of Research, Karen Scott, added, “In the insurance industry, listening to consumers is essential for success. As the Global Consumer Insurance Insights Survey 2023 demonstrates, primary research capturing changing behaviors, user feedback, and satisfaction is invaluable to help inform insurance company strategies, new product development, marketing, and communications plans. Insurers now have access to significant data sets to compare year-on-year, creating a true benchmark series of reports we are proud to support. Ultimately, insurers who prioritize listening to and understanding their consumers will come out on top.”

The 2023 Global Consumer Insurance Insights Survey highlights four key calls to action for insurers:

  1. Maximize accessibility of insurance products to consumers across channels
  2. Accelerate speed to market with the SaaS model
  3. Humanize the consumer experience through digital channels
  4. Leverage the SaaS ecosystem to differentiate competitively

Download the 2023 Global Consumer Insurance Insights Survey here.

About Duck Creek Technologies
Duck Creek Technologies is the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of the property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance industry. We are the platform upon which modern insurance systems are built, enabling the industry to capitalize on the power of the cloud to run agile, intelligent, and evergreen operations. Authenticity, purpose, and transparency are core to Duck Creek, and we believe insurance should be there for individuals and businesses when, where, and how they need it most. Our market-leading solutions are available on a standalone basis or as a full suite, and all are available via Duck Creek OnDemand. Visit www.duckcreek.com to learn more. Follow Duck Creek on our social channels for the latest information – LinkedIn and Twitter.

Drake Manning
Duck Creek Technologies
+1 860 877 3609
drake.manning@duckcreek.com
GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8833259

African governments harness education data to reverse learning crisis

EkoEXCEL Situation Room

EkoEXCEL Situation Room

LONDON, May 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — African education leaders travelling to London to showcase NewGlobe-supported transformational public educational programs at the prestigious Education World Forum (EWF), May 8 – 10.

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Harnessing education data to drive learning transformation will be a key takeaway for the global education community at EWF, the biggest gathering of education ministers in the world.


They face what World Bank Education Director, Jaime Saavedra, calls, “the most serious crisis in education in 100 years.”


Data from the World Bank shows global Learning Poverty – defined as the percentage of 10-year-olds unable to read a simple sentence – in low and middle-income countries has increased from 50% to 70% while in Sub-Saharan Africa it is 90%.


Despite such enormous challenges, NewGlobe-supported programs in Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, and Manipur (India) are leading the way in the use of education data-led solutions to Learning Poverty.


The success stories of the EKOEXCEL, EdoBEST, BayelsaPRIME, KwaraLEARN, Bridge Liberia, RwandaEQUIP, and STAR Education programs will be on display at EWF. All are seeing huge improvements in learning outcomes.


Underpinning their success is a data-driven structured pedagogy, independently assessed in Kenya in a study led by Nobel Prize winning economist Professor Michael Kremer. It confirmed learning gains among the “largest ever measured in international education.”

The EKOEXCEL program in Lagos State, Nigeria is an exemplary case of using data-driven solutions to reverse Learning Poverty. One of the program’s initiatives, the ‘Situation Room’ will be on display at EWF.


The Situation Room visualizes data from all 1012 primary schools in Lagos State, offering powerful insights. Using NewGlobe’s Spotlight software, gives education leaders access to key data in real time – empowering the government to make informed interventions.


Lagos State Education Commissioner, Folashade Adefisayo said:


“If there are any problems in schools, we are able to track them, so people going there to solve the problem have a lot of data in their hands; they would know how many children and teachers there are, whether the head teacher is at school and whether students are having learning difficulties in a subject.”

Within eight weeks of EKOEXCEL’s launch, literacy learning rates measured three times faster, and numeracy two times faster, than schools not in the program.


EWF promises to inspire governments to harness education data to reshape education and overcome Learning Poverty, with visionary African governments leading.

For additional information, contact: marek.pruszewicz@newglobe.education


GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000808910

Encryptus Unveils the Largest Payout Network at Coindesk Consensus

LITHUANIA, EUROPE / ACCESSWIRE / May 8, 2023 / Encryptus, a leading cryptocurrency solutions provider, announced during Coindesk’s Consensus event the launch of industry leading payout product, which allows crypto exchanges, wallet providers, Web3, Gaming and other B2C crypto companies to off-ramp to Bank Wires, Mobile Wallets, Mobile Top-ups and Gift Cards with API’s.The payout network has coverage in 79 Countries for Bank Wires in 41 currencies, 39 countries for Mobile Wallets and 115+ countries for mobile top ups and gift cards. There are over 7,500 different types of gift cards and prepaid airtime of 307 Mobile operators globally available with Encryptus’s payouts. Popular Mobile Wallets like AliPay, GoCash and M-Pesa are among the few available.

As part of its commitment to regulatory compliance, Encryptus does not provide off ramps to sanctioned countries and clients. In addition the services are not available to residents and citizens of the US, Canada and Japan due to the regulatory landscape. The payout product is particularly beneficial for users looking to cash out crypto to fiat (national currencies) to their own bank accounts or purchase gift cards or mobile plans in over 100 countries. The payouts combined will be available in 98 currencies. The services are available via APIs but the company will unveil their widget soon.

Encryptus’ payout product is fully automated, with compliance monitoring tools to identify PEP and Sanctioned users and dirty coins via coin monitoring being integrated into its APIs.

“We are excited to launch our payouts; QuickRemit. Our payout network is not just the largest but offers the widest form of payments in the crypto industry. The API offers payout as a service and also keeps compliance as a core offering. Our vision is to further expand our payout coverage with a commitment to reduce the costs of payouts for the users” said Shantnoo Saxsena, CEO of Encryptus.

Shantnoo further explained that true crypto adoption will not happen with good pay-in networks, but with an extension to multiple payouts. Exchanges and crypto companies must not just focus on bringing users to their platform, but they must offer their users enough freedom to cash out.

Encryptus has aggressively priced the global bank wires for a flat fee of 1.5% and have a revenue share reserve from this amount for their partners. The accepted crypto would only be USDT and USDC.

The company promises to simplify global mobile wallet payouts and business payments in the upcoming upgrade.

Overall, the launch of the new payout product by Encryptus represents a significant milestone in the evolution of blockchain-based payments solutions. The need of the hour is to provide a secure, automated, and affordable way to off-ramp crypto holdings into various forms of payments. Encryptus is helping to further expand the adoption of cryptocurrencies and drive innovation in the fintech industry.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EncryptusGlobal
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/encryptus/
Website: https://encryptus.io/

Please free to contact Abhi@encryptus.io for any queries.

SOURCE: Encryptus

Mosa Meat Prepares for Market Entry by Opening Largest Cultivated Meat Campus in the World to date and Working with Two Michelin-starred Chef Hans van Wolde

MAASTRICHT, The Netherlands, May 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mosa Meat, the pioneers in the cultivated meat space that grow beef directly from animal cells, opened a new 2,760 square metre (29,708 square feet) scale-up facility in Maastricht on Monday. This fourth facility completes the new Mosa C.A.M.P.U.S. or Center for Advanced Meat Production, Upscaling, and Sustainability for a total footprint of 7,340 square metres (79,007 square feet).

Monday’s program included a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Mayor of Maastricht Annemarie Penn-te Strake, the Governor of Limburg Emile Roemer, and the Mosa Meat team, a cultivated burger cooking demonstration by Chef Hans van Wolde, and tours of the new facility. A select group of 50 investors, journalists and value chain partners from around the world attended the event. The new facility will start the first production runs in a matter of days.

Mosa Meat CEO Maarten Bosch said: “As this scale-up facility comes online next month, we will have the capacity to make tens of thousands of cultivated hamburgers. The facility is designed to grow as demand increases with regulatory approvals and regional market entries, up to hundreds of thousands of cultivated hamburgers per year. And in combination with our contract manufacturer in Singapore, even a lot more. We are excited to debut this great tasting hamburger today that even hardcore carnivores will love.” 

Mosa Meat Co-founder & CSO Dr. Mark Post said: “When we introduced cultivated meat to the world, we predicted it would take 10 years to create a consumer product. Now, almost exactly 10 years later, we have a consumer product that we can start making in larger quantities and that we can start serving to consumers in Singapore, pending regulatory approval” said Mark Post, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Mosa Meat.

Chef Hans van Wolden said: “When I first tried a Mosa Burger as part of the internal development team, I was blown away by the beefy taste and the amazing mouthfeel of the beef fat. It gave me goosebumps. I genuinely believe this new way of making beef can delight connoisseurs and casual beef lovers alike, while enjoying the positive benefits of cultivated beef from a sustainability perspective. I am excited to work with the Mosa Meat team to make future versions even better. 

ABOUT MOSA MEAT

Mosa Meat is a global food technology company pioneering a cleaner, kinder way of making real beef. Our founders introduced the world’s first cultivated beef hamburger in 2013, by growing it directly from cow cells. Founded in 2016, Mosa Meat is now scaling up production of the same beef that people love, but in a way that is better for people, animals, and the planet. A diverse and growing team of 165 food-loving problem-solvers, we are united in our mission to fundamentally reshape the global food system. Headquartered in Maastricht, The Netherlands, Mosa Meat is a privately held company backed by Blue Horizon, Bell Food Group, Nutreco, Mitsubishi Corporation, Leonardo DiCaprio and others. Follow Mosa Meat on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram or visit mosameat.com to learn more about why people #cravechange.

For more information, reach out to press@mosameat.com.

Visual assets from the event will be loaded here by 17:00 CET on May 8th

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/181Qd14IJ9QD55SfwarnohvzO5-rjxtHf

The general Mosa Meat press kit is here:

https://mosameat.com/press-kit

ABOUT CHEF HANS VAN WOLDE

Chef Hans is a Dutch 2-Michelin star chef who converted an old farmhouse outside Maastricht into his restaurant Brut172. Previouslyhe was the chef owner of 2-star restaurant Beluga in Maastricht and has been featured on TV shows like MasterChef and Snackmasters. He has formally joined Mosa Meat’s product development, sensory evaluation and recipe formulation team to complement Mosa Meat’s internal team of food scientists.

www.brut172.com

Attachments

Tim van de Rijdt
Mosa Meat
press@mosameat.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8834249

Madagascar media guide

The media are highly-politicised and vulnerable to influence from their business and politics-linked owners, says Reporters Without Borders.

The constitution does provide for freedom of the press, however, Freedom House says this guarantee has been undermined by criminal libel laws and other restrictions.

Although nationwide broadcasting remains a state monopoly, there are hundreds of private local radio and TV stations. Radio is the main medium for news, due to high levels of illiteracy.

BBC World Service radio is available on FM in Antananarivo (96.2), and Fianarantsoa and Toamasina (89.8). Radio France Internationale (RFI) is also carried by FM relays.

There were 2.8 million internet users by December 2021, comprising 10% of the population (Internetworldstats.com).

Source: BBC

Deputy Finance Minister supports Afia Kobi Engineering club

Mr John Ampontuah Kuma, Deputy Minister of Finance has donated an amount of GHS100,000.00 to the Engineering Club of the Afia Kobi Senior High School at Trabuom in the Atwima Kwanwoma District.

The gesture was to support the school and the club in continuing its engineering innovations which have resulted in the building and flying of an aircraft.

The Deputy Minister has also pledged to construct an ultramodern ICT centre for the school to serve as a special place for the engineering club to continue their good work.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after the donation, Mr Kuma, who is also the Members of Parliament for Ejisu, said the gesture was to motivate the students and their staff to do more and come out with many innovative crafts capable of solving societal problems.

He stressed on the government’s commitment to support science, mathematics, and engineering education to help equip and prepare the Ghanaian child adequately to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

‘Even though I have done this in my individual capacity to support you, I can assure you that the government will support this project.

We will work together to get funding from both local and international sources to push forward, and I want to encourage you to come out with a man-craft in the near future.’

Madam Silvia Newton, Headmistress of the school, who received the cash on behalf of the club, thanked the Deputy Minister for the recognition.

She said the donation would go a long way to help in the procurement of materials for other innovative crafts.

Madam Newton called on other individuals and organizations to support the school to continue with its innovative projects.

Mr Ferdinand Sam, the Lead Engineer, and the brain behind the various engineering projects of the club, said with the right support the club could be able to manufacture and commercialize its various crafts.

He said the club was ready to build man-craft for the country’s security agencies such as the police, military, the fire service, and the navy.

Mr Sam said the club had already created a blueprint for watercraft which could detect minerals and missing persons in a vast deep river.

The engineering club of Afia Kobi Girls Senior High School in April 2023 designed and flew a jet aircraft as part of its project work in the school.

In a viral video, the team took the aircraft to the field to test-fly it to the astonishment of other students and staff present.

The plane flew at a very high altitude without any problem.

The project has since caught the attention of many Ghanaians with people calling on the government and other stakeholders in education to support the school to do more of such innovations.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Devtraco Fire Station wins GNFS quiz competition

Devtraco Fire Station won a quiz tournament held by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) Tema Regional Command to assess firefighting ability in fire safety, fire administration, fire operation, and general knowledge.

Participants from the Devtraco Devisional Command received certificates, and the first-place officer received a plaque, a certificate, and other mementos.

Industrial Fire Station also won first-runner-up certificates, while Katamanso Fire Station and Tema Metro Fire Station finished third and fourth, respectively. Dodowa Fire Station and Kasapreko Fire Station also took part.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer I (ACFOI) Doris Lamptey, Commander of the Tema Regional GNFS, disclosed that the quiz exercise was designed to widen personnel’s knowledge and scope, as well as to keep thoughts concerning fire control fresh in their brains, so that they will not be found wanting in any situation.

ACFOI Madam Lamptey added that the fire service duty also included the rescue of victims in vehicular accidents, which was the competition’s practical part.

Mr. Carlos Ahenkorah, Member of Parliament for Tema West and the event’s honoree, congratulated the GNFS for minimising fire incidences in their territory, remarking that while the government had done well in providing logistics for the fire department, more support was needed.

He directed the GNFS to become engaged in issuing building licences to guarantee that residences were designed with sufficient road demarcation for easy access to rescue disasters.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Dzifa Gomashie projected to win Ketu South NDC parliamentary primary

Madam Abla Dzifa Gomashie, the incumbent Member of Parliament for Ketu South, has been projected to win the NDC’s parliamentary primary scheduled for Saturday, May 13.

According to an opinion poll conducted by Scorpion Research, a poll watching organization based in Aflao, Madam Gomashie is expected to win the polls with a landslide of 56 per cent with her closest contender Mr Foga Nukunu projected to poll 16 per cent.

Another contender Mr Jim Morti, will poll eight per cent of the votes, the survey suggested.

Twenty per cent of the delegates, according to the survey, were undecided.

The researchers put the poll sample at 430, with a margin of error of 3.5 per cent.

The poll’s outcome, which is said to resonate with the general feeling of constituents, had generated intense excitement as most people in the Ketu South constituency have indicated their readiness to give their MP another term in parliament.

Mr Edwin Amemasor, a delegate and communications team member of the party in the constituency, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency at Aflao, said, Madam Gomashie has done creditably well in her first term as the constituency’s MP, and deserved to be retained to continue the good work she has started.

‘You see, Madam Gomashie has done so well in the last two and half years since assuming office – her benevolence and developmental efforts in the constituency is unmatched – I strongly believe she should be retained to continue with the good work,’ Amemasor said.

Another delegate Ms Zeinab Mohamed, eulogized the MP: ‘ This is the first time in the history of Ketu South constituency that a woman and a mother as such is our MP – Madam Gomashie has done so well in terms of women empowerment and other support programmees. She is always available anytime we call on her for support – she has to be given a second term,’ Ms Mohamed said.

The former actress and Deputy Creative Arts Minister won the NDC’s Ketu South parliamentary primary in 2019 to become the first female MP for the constituency.

Having become well loved by the people of the constituency, especially by the women folk, it is believed that she would sail through the primary with ease, and to return to Parliament for another term after the 2024 general election.

Source: Ghana News Agency