Press release -
Discovery Insure concludes partnership with leading US technology firm
Johannesburg (26 August 2014) – Discovery Limited today announced a strategic partnership deal with US-based Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), a leading telematics technology provider. This deal will further bolster the current strategic partnership between Discovery Insure and CMT.
Discovery Limited, with operations in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Singapore and Australia, is increasingly becoming known for its disruptive innovation and replicable business model that structurally changes the way insurance works by improving consumers’ behaviour in terms of health and driving. CMT has developed patented technology embedded in popular mobile applications that allows users to seamlessly interact with massive amounts of sensor data processed from smartphones, other mobile devices, and cars.
Adrian Gore, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Limited, commented, “This strategic partnership with CMT further enhances Discovery Insure’s leadership position in the growing industry of behaviour-based short-term insurance. While insurers are using telematics technology to monitor and track driving behaviour with discounts on premiums to policyholders, Discovery Insure harnesses both telematics technology and behavioural economics to promote safer driving, with exceptional results for both our clients and the company.”
ABI Research, a New York-based market research and intelligence firm, estimates that the number of monitored drivers worldwide will rise from 1.85 million in 2010 to 89 million by 2017. Telematics focuses on the use of wireless technologies to send data over long distances.
“We are focused on continuing to expand our global footprint and align with companies that share our vision – to make better drivers and safer roads,” said William Powers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cambridge Mobile Telematics. “Through a strategic alliance with Discovery Limited, we can collectively shape the future of the behaviour-based insurance industry.”
More than 1.24 million road traffic deaths occur each year, according to the most recent World Health Organization report on road safety. In the context of high road fatality rates, in South Africa and globally, the ability to change driving behaviour through robust and accurate measurement and attractive incentives has significant potential to reduce mortality rates over the long term. Discovery Insure’s business model centres on combining telematics technology with insights from behavioural economics in its driver-behaviour programme.
Anton Ossip, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Insure, views the strategic partnership with CMT as an important step for the company. “We are very excited to partner with CMT given its breadth and depth of expertise in the field of mobile telematics. Over the past year and a half, Discovery Insure has worked very closely with CMT and its MIT-based experts to develop a smartphone app that allows anyone with a smartphone to monitor their trips and driving behaviour through telematics technology. This technology has incredible potential for gathering significant and relevant data from a large group of drivers to learn more about the behaviours that contribute to road fatalities and injuries.”
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About Cambridge Mobile Telematics
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) was founded by computer scientists from MIT with a mission to make roads and drivers safer around the world. CMT’s intellectual property and technologies are embedded in popular mobile applications used in many countries, triggering big improvements in driving behaviour and changing the global insurance market. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, CMT's world-class team includes experts in the technology and business of mobile sensing, data-intensive analytics, and machine learning. For more information, please visit www.cmtelematics.com
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About Discovery Limited
Discovery Limited is a South African-founded financial services organisation that operates in the healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, savings and investment products and wellness markets. Founded in 1992 by the current Group Chief Executive Officer Adrian Gore, Discovery was guided by a clear core purpose – to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Underpinning this core purpose is the belief that through innovation Discovery can be a powerful market disruptor.
The company, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, has expanded its operations globally and currently serves over seven million clients across South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, China and Singapore. Vitality, Discovery’s wellness programme, is the world’s largest scientific, incentive-based wellness solution for individuals and corporates. The global Vitality membership base now exceeds 5.5 million lives in five markets.
Discovery is an authorised financial services provider. It trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange under the code “DSY”.
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