Tue 20 Nov. 2018
A Glimpse Into The Future
ON the 14th November, The Vue Cinema kindly welcomed the Insurance Institute of Bolton‘s showcase learning and development session of the year “A Glimpse into the future”, hosted by Martin Ashfield. Three Industry leading speakers were invited to present on their respective areas of: Electric cars, Autonomous vehicles, and Connected homes, together demonstrating the cutting edge of technology in homes and cars, present and future.
Karen Ashton, Three times national champion of the prestigious Vehicle Damage Assessor of the year competition, and trainer on hybrid and electric vehicles began proceedings at the very dawn of motoring. From early steam vehicles and a choice of power sources, she explored the very same questions that car manufacturing has answered for over two hundred years. Which fuel?
A journey through history brought some surprises: First electric car, 1835. First hybrid electric/petrol in 1900, and a brief but successful surge of early electric vehicles till Henry ford and mass production introduced cheap petrol motoring to the masses. The themes of cost, convenience, and environmental effects ran throughout, leading to the conclusion that any fuel offering the right combination would naturally win through.
David Williams, Technical Director for Axa Insurance took up the mantle. A strong advocate for autonomous vehicle research, he has been hard at work at the very forefront of autonomous vehicle strategy. With feedback to government as part of consortium work (with such high profile names as the Williams F1 team and Jaguar Land Rover as well as several universities) to trial and research autonomous vehicles, he kindly shared some of his experiences at the cutting edge as well as some concerns going forward.
No less than 5 different consortium groups placed input into where the Industry is today, culminating in The Automated and Electric Vehicle Act 2018. This will encourage more charging points for electric vehicles and settle liability for autonomous vehicles (still with the RTA insurer in the majority of cases). Data ownership is still the major concern left to address. In the event of an incident the ownership of the post-crash data is still a grey area. If an insurer is unable to access this, then liability for a manufacturing or software defect will be difficult to detect or evidence.
From motor to home was Chris Woodward from Clarke Infinity, specialising in smart homes, home cinemas, automation and entertainment systems. Whilst the David and Karen speakers explore the advancements in motor vehicle technology, Chris and Clarke Infinity apply these same principles to the home.
Just as vehicles are communicating with each other and the wider world, so is the home. Heating and lighting can be operated remotely, just as TV, entertainment, blinds and curtains providing a security solution as well as a warm home to return to in winter.
Finally, panel discussion brought all three presenters together for a flurry of questions and speculation about the future ending the day on a high. Kind thanks to Martin Ashfield, Heidi Atkins and all of the team for their hard work in organising and bringing together a successful event, to Andy from Axa IT for patching the different systems together on the day, and finally to the Bolton Insurance Institute members who attended and supported such a great event.