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SOMPO Digital Labs: The Core to Digital Transformation

09 Dec 2020 | By Sompo

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SOMPO Digital Labs: The Core to Digital Transformation

Mobile and web are now primary touchpoints for users. Thus, having a place where real user experience brought into developer and testers' hands has become necessary: a digital lab. A digital lab provides access to real devices and browsers through an automation interface with a guaranteed level of uptime, or service availability, to support Agile development of web and mobile apps.

Being the innovation arm of Sompo Holdings for digital innovation, SOMPO Digital Lab was established with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. More labs were developed later in leading technology hubs worldwide (Tokyo, Silicon Valley, and Tel Aviv) and positioned to partner with innovative tech companies to bring new products. SOMPO Digital Lab's mission is to create new value and enhance customer experiences.

Throughout the time, SOMPO Digital Labs has produced:

  •     InsurTech: Providing innovative insurance products for special operations & customer experience.
  •     Digital Health: Transforming health and wellness through advanced technologies.
  •     Mobility: Applying telematics & IoT to shape the future of mobility.
  •     Cybersecurity: Combating ever-evolving cyber threats with the latest solutions.

Each lab serves different purposes. SOMPO Digital Lab Tokyo (established in 2016) serves as the pillar for digital innovation across all Sompo Holdings units, providing customer and industry insights for SOMPO Digital Labs activities.

In Silicon Valley, SOMPO Digital Lab focuses on the latest technologies and business trends. The lab aims to leverage the local ecosystem by establishing relationships and opportunities for collaboration with diverse organizations, offering innovative technologies and services that deliver new and exciting customer experiences.

The Tel Aviv Lab's comprises the multi-disciplinary team from various sectors, including health, technology, mobility and cybersecurity. Having vast experience working with startups, multinationals, VCs and accelerator/partnership programs, SOMPO Digital Lab TLV positioned itself to bridge the gap between the startup culture and traditional insurance sector.

Prominent case studies from the projects worked in SOMPO Digital Labs are:

    Medigate -- The collaboration with Israeli startup Medigate produced a unique cybersecurity solution for medical networks of hospitals in Japan. As SOMPO provides services to approximately 2/3 of the hospitals in Japan, this collaboration meets SOMPO's goal to provide innovative solutions that enhance security, health, and well-being. With SOMPO's existing ties with Japanese hospitals and Medigate's technology, we can provide an offer that does not exist in the Japanese market, delivering unique value to SOMPO's customers. Sompo has deployed the solution in one of Japan's most prominent hospitals, quickly bringing value to its customer a few days after installation.

    Binah.ai -- Aiming to provide a mobile application for easily-accessed stress level measurement, Sompo Himawari Life Insurance collaborated with binah.ai. A sophisticated AI-based signal processing engine that analyses face video feed from any mobile device and extracts biomarkers managed to translate the data into a stress level score and other key biomarkers. The SDK of binah.ai embedded in a dedicated application developed by SOMPO, primarily for the Japanese market and part of the Lynx application suite. The Binah.ai SDK for stress level measurement is planned for commercial launch in Q2 2020 and will significantly support SOMPO's mission of providing innovative solutions for security, health, and well-being. The next phase of this collaboration will expand the market reach and further remark additional capabilities to enable innovative healthcare-related services.