Linux Foundation launches blockchain-based platform for insurance

The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit technology consortium that supports the Linux operating system, is backing a new blockchain-based project for the insurance industry.

On Monday, the foundation announced the launch of the Open Insurance Data Link platform, a project that aims to reduce the cost of insurance reporting and create a standardized insurance data repository using distributed ledger technology.

OpenIDL is a joint initiative of the Linux Foundation and the American Association of Insurance Services, a national insurance advisory organization in the United States. The open-source project brings together major global insurance firms like The Hanover and Selective Insurance Group, as well as technology and service providers like MOBI, Chainyard and KatRisk to participate in a common DLT platform to share data and business processes in the insurance industry.

Regulatory reporting in the property and casualty insurance industry is one of the key use cases for the OpenIDL network. Benefitting from blockchain’s basic features such as immutability and transparency, the platform aims to ensure trust, or guarantee to regulators and other insurance industry participants that reporting data is accurate and complete.

OpenIDL is operating as part of the Linux Foundation’s open governance network model, which means that its network is built on nodes run by many different organizations connected by a shared distributed ledger. The common ledger provides an industry utility platform for recording transactions and automating business processes.

“Blockchain is a team sport and with the OpenIDL platform, companies, regulators and vendors are forming an ecosystem to collaborate on common issues for the betterment of the insurance industry. The entire industry will benefit through more accurate data and better decision making,” Chainyard senior vice president of consulting services Isaac Kunkel said.