Accenture has joined The Institutes RiskBlock Alliance, a blockchain consortium for the risk management and insurance industry, and will serve as the lead framework architect.

The Institutes, a risk and insurance knowledge group, announced the formation of the blockchain consortium in July 2017. Over 30 global insurers and brokers have joined the initiative in the past 12 months.

As a lead framework architect, Accenture will help build a production-grade platform to develop and implement blockchain and distributed-ledger use cases. It will work closely with the consortium to conceptualize, design, and build the platform, as well as maintain and update the platform as the business needs and technologies of RiskBlock members evolve.

“RiskBlock has built a powerful alliance, and we’re eager to work with them to develop scalable blockchain use cases in insurance. Blockchain has the power to simplify, secure and speed up the way the insurance industry works,” said Michael Costonis, who leads Accenture’s Insurance practice globally.

According to the official release, RiskBlock has identified more than 40 blockchain uses cases, which it is ready to implement and test. This includes:

• A “first notice of loss” data-sharing process, produced by Accenture, to create a more streamlined experience for both consumers and business;
• A “proof of insurance” application that enables motor vehicle drivers and law enforcement to confirm insurance coverage accuracy in real-time, without relying on paper forms;
• A subrogation tool that uses blockchain-enabled smart-contract technology to facilitate the netting of consortium members’ payments, reducing manual processes and making the payment and accounting of claims processing more efficient; and
• A parametric insurance application that uses a weather oracle and smart contracts to automate the claims process.

Accenture will serve as one of several solution providers, helping the consortium to develop and test its use cases. The platform will enable the RiskBlock Alliance to implement and test multiple use cases by the end of 2018.