Donated assets will accelerate digitisation of paperless transactions globally.

Leading digital risk placement platform Whitespace announced today that it has donated its digital contract data structures to ACORD, the standards-setting body for the global insurance industry. The donated assets will greatly accelerate the ongoing development of standards for electronic data exchange by industry stakeholders worldwide.

Whitespace has developed a highly in-demand paperless placing process which provides a fully digital end-to-end broking and underwriting experience. A digital contract is created at the outset and is shared throughout the placing process, eliminating the need for documents; human interaction is supported in creating, negotiating and maintaining a shared mutually accepted, objective record. This digital placing standard will be incorporated into ACORD’s industry-owned Global Reinsurance and Large Commercial Data Standards, which are widely used through the global insurance value chain.

“Whitespace has managed to digitise the extensively used MRC in a way that recognises the legal status and structure of the contract, while capturing the full data set that is essential to downstream processing,” said Marcus Broome, Whitespace’s Chief Platform Officer. “Our solution presents the contract data in a way which is easy to navigate for both brokers and carriers, providing that look and feel which is so familiar to the community. With Whitespace adoption now increasing rapidly across the market, global availability to the industry through ACORD benefits everyone.”

Whitespace will also be collaborating with the ACORD Solutions Group and leveraging ACORD’s industry-owned software asset iConductor to transform data, as well as using ACORD’s GRLC Global Placing Message to support seamless integration between brokers and carriers.

“ACORD is working very closely with a number of our members and global communities in digitising the placement process, and creating consensus for best practices,” said Chris Newman, ACORD’s Global Managing Director. “As the global standards body, ACORD is ideally positioned to leverage the work that Whitespace has completed to benefit the global insurance industry.”
“We are very pleased that Whitespace sees the benefits of industry-wide standards and is making this contribution,” Newman added. “ACORD Standards are there to provide clarity, drive operational efficiencies, and allow all parties to focus on their truly differentiating capabilities.”