2018 Transparency Report

Hackathon

KPMG Hackathon cy #InsurTech impacts on both young talent and the insurance industry professionals

KPMG in Cyprus, with the technological and organizational support of the innovation company Crowdpolicy, the support of the insurance industry’s catalyst GAN Direct and with the participation of major sponsors and stakeholders of the economy and the society, has successfully organised on the 26th, 27th and 28th of January 2018 the first, innovative and full of talent technology marathon Hackathon cy #InsurTech.

Around 150 people participated at the event with 17 teams competing in the Hackathon. The Hackathon gave the opportunity to young entrepreneurs, developers, analysts, designers, business consultants, professionals, insurance and finance executives, as well as students, to act and network at the same place, collaborate, interact and actively contribute to the development of applications that promote innovative youth and social entrepreneurship within the insurance industry. Both professionals of the insurance industry as well as international executives have been involved in the process, as mentors. The first three pilot applications created were awarded with monetary prizes of €3.000, €2.000 and €1.000, respectively. The top three winning teams also participated in a follow-up investor pitch for Cyban members and interested investors or organizations on the 1st of February, 2018.

The Hackathon’s solutions produced drew positive comments, with strong potential of further funding and/or networking. The ultimate goal of the event was to prepare the ground for young entrepreneurs or new start-up companies to eventually contribute to the country’s economy and particularly to the Insurance industry following the global trend of major funding been invested in the new insurance business model and technological advancements that at the core will be customer-centric and provide solutions to under insurance and tailored products. In addition, the knowledge and experience of developers, teams and executives has been fully exploited towards developing innovative applications.

The ever-increasing technological transformation of the insurance industry is expected to create able prospects and opportunities for the business and the investment world, significantly improving consumer experience. By organising and hosting this event, KPMG in Cyprus brought together people engaged in the insurance industry, technology-oriented experts, stakeholders and investors, aiming to create minimum valuable products, which accelerated the insurance industry’s transformation in Cyprus. Furthermore, technology awareness increased, digital skills of the people involved expanded and new talent emerged across the spectrum of the industry.

KPMG’s hackathon contributed in infusing innovation, acting as hub where large local corporate companies established synergies aiming to accelerate digital transformation and raise further funding.

The Insurtech Hackathon has become an annual event and KPMG in Cyprus has recently organised the second, innovative KPMG Crowdhackathon cy #insurtech on the 18th, 19th and 20th of January 2019.