EIOPA Held InsurTech Roundtable on Use of Cloud Computing by Insurers

Over 70 participants from 48 organizations from all over Europe participated in these discussions. The Roundtable continued work of EIOPA that has been outlined in its recently published report titled “Outsourcing to the Cloud: EIOPA's Contribution to the European Commission Fintech Action Plan." The key takeaways of the discussions are as follows:

• In the coming years, cloud computing is expected to become the “new normal” for business and IT development due to its operational advantages.
• To embrace the “cloud” insurance undertakings must weigh opportunities and risks and setup a sound governance system to manage cloud projects and monitor the cloud services on an ongoing basis.
• Negotiating non-standard contractual clauses with cloud service providers is challenging, particularly for smaller undertakings.
• In addition to cloud infrastructure and security investments, the cloud industry is dedicating resources to increase transparency of their services by providing tools and approaches to “auditing” the cloud.
• To succeed with the cloud, it is paramount to keep in mind the shared responsibility model, which requires a cultural shift of the management, the business, the IT risk management, and the control functions

EIOPA will consider the outcome of the Roundtable discussions in its ongoing work on cloud outsourcing, particularly in developing the principle-based guideline, for decision by the EIOPA Board of Supervisors. 

Related Links

• Press Release
• Roundtable Agenda (PDF)
• Roundtable Summary (PDF)
• EIOPA Presentation (PDF)
  
• EIOPA Report on Cloud Outsourcing (PDF)

Keywords: Europe, EU, Insurance, Insurtech, Regtech, Cloud Outsourcing, Outsourcing, Guidelines, Solvency II, EIOPA