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LexisNexis Risk Solutions (Atlanta) has launched a Software Development Kit (SDK) for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) looking to leverage connected car data to offer their customers usage-based insurance (UBI) options through participating insurers. Through the kit, OEMs can create greater customer engagement through driving behavior feedback can now build new consumer services and take advantage of industry-leading telematics data filtering, normalization and analytics, according to the vendor.

LexisNexis pitches key advantage of the SDK as allowing OEMs to easily plug into the LexisNexis Global Telematics Platform, which offers advanced analytics for big data and a direct data pipe into the insurance markets’ software infrastructure. Since the SDK uses the same data infrastructure as LexisNexis embedded, connected car solutions, the SDK also enables OEMs to extend certain connected car benefits to owners of legacy, non-connected vehicles in the current fleet.

The value of car data is great and increasing for data exchanges such as LexisNexis, onotomo (Tel Aviv) and the Verisk Data Exchange (Jersey City, N.J.), says Donald Light, Director, North America Property/Casualty Practice, Celent (Boston). LexisNexis is thus motivated to make it easy and inexpensive for OEMs to put data from their cars into the vendor’s Global Telematics Platform.

Data of Value to Many Entities

“This is a big data repository, which after various analytics methods are applied to the data, will have create value to auto insurers, OEMs, auto dealers, ride-sharing services, and a lot of types of entities,” Light explains. “The more data, the more value to the users, and to LexisNexis as the owner of the Global Telematics Exchange Platform. Insurers—especially ones that have not built up their own telematics data set on their auto policyholders, could be both users and customers.”

LexisNexis asserts that the SDK enables automotive OEMs to build innovative customer applications across different regions and in different languages, all on the same platform or to improve existing and full-featured customer-facing apps without impacting experience. OEM access to the Global Telematics Platform will also enable customers to benefit through the use of their driving data to secure insurance products, the vendor says.

“From trip scoring, to journey histories and visualization, our highly secure, global platform can ingest driving data from OEMs wherever their vehicles are located in the world—filtering, normalizing and contextualizing the data to provide the backbone of new products and services to support the OEM’s brand experience,” comments Rutger Van der Wall, VP, Global Products, Insurance, LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Because the SDK removes the complexity and cost OEMs would otherwise face in developing the technical infrastructure needed, they can focus on design and delivery, product innovation and consumer engagement using driver scoring, journey and route information, Van der Wall affirms.

Benefits of LexisNexis Risk SDK to automotive OEMs include the ability to do the following, according to the vendor’s description:

• Extend connected car features to owners of non-connected vehicles through the same global telematics platform.
• Use the technical capacity of the global telematics platform to reduce the complexity and cost of building a consumer grade data normalization, filtering and telematics scoring infrastructure
• Take advantage of faster speed-to-market with supported and documented frameworks, APIs and best practices
• Power applications without the cost of duplicating infrastructure, building driving scoring knowledge internationally, opening more markets faster
• Integrate seamlessly into existing apps, allowing OEMs to maintain a consistent customer experience while connecting to LexisNexis Risk Solutions and insurers

The Battle to Establish Car Data Access Arrangements

“The battle is on for information providers to establish connected car data access arrangements with OEMs who will increasingly gain control of that data through AutoTech,” comments Stephen Applebaum, Managing Partner, Insurance Solutions Group (Chicago).

“The proposition for OEMs is to monetize that data without ceding control over customer relationship which allowing them to continue to establish and improve their total-cost-of-ownership strategy in the minds of their customers,” Applebaum elaborates. “The proposition for auto insurers is the ability to gain access to this valuable data for application across the enterprise—pricing, underwriting and claims—without having to do the hard—or impossible—work of integrating and contracting with each OEM separately.”

Applebaum characterizes the integration/contracting as a complex strategic challenge for all parties involved, especially OEMs and insurers who have traditionally viewed one another as adversaries. “For the information provider than can dominate the nascent telematics data exchange space, the opportunity is significant,” he says. “The enormity of the expected economic and strategic values of connected car data explains the intense interest and large investments being made in the opportunity by all of the incumbent players and well established new entrants.”

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