MC for the webinar was non-other than our fearless leader, Madame President of the IIG, Mrs Tshepiso Chocho. Tshepiso opened by thanking the online guests for keeping the connection with the IIG open. Tshepiso also expressed support and concern for fellow South Africans who are facing challenges due to the riots in the affected regions.
Tshepiso had the following to say about Claude:
“Claude Hamman specializes in simplifying complexity in the face of disruption, change, and uncertainty. He provides a professional, disciplined and forward-thinking approach to improving decision making.
His role requires a detailed understanding of the risks and opportunities faced by organisations and he is engaged with Governance, Risk and Compliance activities for African organisations across multiple industry sectors.
Claude is a life-long learner who has grown his leadership ability by enabling and empowering people to exceed expectations. He is a Strategic Management Specialist, an IRMSA Certified Risk Professional, and Member of the IISA and an affiliate of the Business Continuity Institute. Claude’s goal is to drive competitive advantage and deliver value to stakeholders by simplifying complexity”.
Claude opened the discussion with a beautiful background of the Prague library, which is one of the oldest libraries in the world being built in 1143. He described it as a tiny monastery filled with art and allowing the sharing of knowledge as the setting. Claude invited the audience to openly engage and interact with the topic at hand by using the chatbox. Judging by the attendee’s questions and comments during the course of the session, it most certainly was.
Claude then jumped straight into the exciting topic of insurance risk management with the use of exciting new technology. He shared a video of an actual event where an explosion occurred in one of the factories and drone technology was used to conduct the risk assessment. This type of assessment did not exist 10 years ago, illustrating the rapid advancement in technology over time that is improving the way post-loss risk assessment is being conducted.
Claude highlighted three main areas that he would be focusing on in this discussion i.e. Risk Management, Decision Making, Technology and how these three areas work together
Claude then tested the audience historical knowledge and asked, “Who knows what historic event occurred on the 20th July 1969,” and the responses were,
Ellis Roos: “Moon Landing”
David Stratton: “First man on the moon”
Juliet Maullin: “Moon landing”
Claude advised, that most of us were not around at the time of the Moon Landing, but we were made aware by the various news mediums at the time. Claude then introduced Richard Branson’s most recent space expedition into the conversation and compared the last 17 years that it took Branson’s team to build this expedition and eventually realize it.
He then addressed the current riots and their impact to South Africa. World Economic Forum report acknowledges the divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” and the access to technology that drives our engagement as a nation.
Claude talks about the insurance industry being on the verge of a technology shift and argues whether we are ready for this seismic shift. He questions our readiness as an industry and whether our client’s rate of adoption is up to speed as well.
He then positioned the speed at which technology advanced over time illustrating:
- The Telephone – 1877
- Personal computer – 1970
- Internet – 1990
- Smart phone – 1992
- Iphone – 2007
- Blockchain – 2008
Claude shares the difference between innovation and novation – i.e. the first telephone was an innovation and all telephone derivates thereafter are novation. He stops at Blockchain, as since 2008 the rapid rate of change in technology is too diverse to list here.
He then delves into decision making by sharing his own personal experience in cycling in the KZN area. He faced uncertainty, risk, fear and fatigue. He compares his personal experience with the way we face life, with the pandemic, the situation in the country and our work circumstances and what does this all mean for us. Decision making he believes is key to how we move forward and how we learn from these experiences.
Claude covered a range of technological advancements, which are wide, fleeting and impactful to all of us within the insurance industry, and personally as well. There are so many to mention, which is why we invite you as our valued IIG guests and partners to access the presentation and also make the time to attend our future webinars where we cover these exciting topics from thought leaders like Claude across the industry.
Claude asks if we are ready for the future. Are WE?
Article was written by Kinesh Maistry
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