Increase data sharing or die? An initial view for natural catastrophe insurance

This article is an illustration of Geography in action, recounting an investigation into an industry's views of data sharing. The insurance sector is fundamentally analytics driven and based on geospatial data. One option for more effective and efficient insurance for natural hazard risks (e.g. flooding, earthquake) is, in theory, to increase the sharing of data between the various (re)insurance organisations. However, it remains unclear to what extent this is desirable or practical for commercially sensitive data. This work creates a conceptual model of data sharing in (re)insurance, focussing on loss (claims) data for natural hazards as an illustrative microcosm, including barriers and solutions to sharing. In light of this, an initial view on the future shape of insurance data sharing is given, finishing with an opinion on whether or not new external disruptors (start-ups, tech giants - e.g. Google, Amazon, Tencent) pose an existential threat to incumbent firms.