GIS to revolutionise flood insurance

The insurance industry is recognising GIS as a powerful tool that will drive comprehensive business transformation.

An international geospatial expert Simon Thompson has been meeting Australia’s top insurers as the industry faces widespread reform following two years of severe flooding that has inundated large parts of the country and exposed extensive underinsurance and poor risk assessment processes.

"Layering detailed flood and engineering models over residential or commercial property data enables insurers to more accurately and efficiently understand their portfolios and deliver better products and services to their customers."

Mr Thompson said the spatial industry has traditionally been more focused on technology instead of information sharing, but this is now changing.