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Alors que l’assurance a d’abord constitué un enjeu important pour les plateformes en raison de la confiance qu’elle insuffle aux utilisateurs, la multiplication des plateformes a ensuite obligé les assureurs à entreprendre, en collaboration avec des acteurs spécialisés, leur transformation digitale, afin de maintenir leur compétitivité. Le modèle économique des plateformes numériques et les écosystèmes qui s’y construisent présentent encore d’indéniables avantages pour les assureurs en termes de croissance et de création de valeur, mais la stratégie big data de ces plateformes peut aussi laisser craindre qu’elles deviennent les assureurs de demain.

Digital platforms: The insurers of the twenty-first century?While insurance companies have contributed to digital platforms cementing their positions as trusted third parties, one may wonder whether these platforms could eventually replace traditional insurers. The “platformization” of a number of insurance activities constitutes a clear argument in this direction. Regulatory barriers to entry and traditional economic patterns that still protect insurers could then give way, allowing newcomers with better expertise in data management, better overall client experience, and better technology to emerge. Yet, the predicted turmoil in traditional insurance seems to have faded away, at least for now. Hence, for the moment, platforms that are interested in insurance companies are mainly establishing themselves as partners for insurers, providing them with a much-needed agility in order to optimize each segment of their value chain. Cohabitation between platforms and traditional insurance companies seems to rely rather on this pattern of co-innovation. Although traditional insurers have not yet been completely erased, they still run the risk of being outshined, drowned out amid other insurance services. In order to not simply become B2B operators and to not lose the precious direct link with insured clients, insurers have had to speed up their digitalization process, and not without difficulties. In this ever-changing landscape, the development of the meta-technology of blockchain could disturb the already tenuous balance and force all of the players involved to reconsider their roles. However, the trust revolution of blockchain technology may allow the insurer to return to the forefront, taking on the role of oracle.