Agnik and Harman Awarded U.S. DoT Research Contract for Next Generation Usage-Based Insurance

BALTIMORE -- September 2, 2014: Agnik, a leading data analytics company for connected cars, today announced that it has received a US Department of Transportation Contract for developing advanced mathematical game-theoretic framework-based products in the area of social incentives and mechanism design for usage-based insurance. This project will be performed in collaboration with Harman International, a leading provider of global audio and infotainment services. The project will be supported by several leading insurance carriers.

“HARMAN is committed to further innovative in the fields of connected services such as UBI offerings by leveraging our deep expertise in connectivity and embedded infotainment solutions”

The growing interest in blending social experience with Connected Car applications is creating new opportunities for insurance carriers. However, gamification without proper mathematical approach may have adverse effect. Agnik’s current Big Data Analytics platform for connected car already offers wide range of products for insurance carriers including usage-based-insurance, customer relationship management for connected cars, claims analytics and smartphone-based insurance analytics among others. Collective incentive mechanisms based on well-grounded mathematical framework will offer Agnik’s insurance partners many additional capabilities for creating the next generation of usage-based-insurance programs. This product will be backed by Agnik’s ecosystem of Big Data Analytics products for consumers, vehicle repair service providers, OEMs and automotive suppliers among others.

“Ad hoc gamification of usage-based-insurance without well-grounded mathematics to back things up may have serious undesirable consequences on insurance risk management,” said Dr. Hillol Kargupta, President of Agnik. “The interplay between risk and driver incentive in a multi-party framework is a complex problem and Agnik analytics for game theoretic mechanism design will help insurance carriers in identifying well-grounded solutions for developing social engagements in the context of insurance telematics programs. We are pleased to receive this contract and work with the team.”

“HARMAN is committed to further innovative in the fields of connected services such as UBI offerings by leveraging our deep expertise in connectivity and embedded infotainment solutions,” said IP Park, Chief Technology Officer at HARMAN. “Unlike current initiatives that are fragmented and proprietary, HARMAN’s extensive relationships with the world’s automakers makes us uniquely positioned to deliver scalable, platform-based UBI solutions to meet the needs of multiple OEMs, insurance companies, and the interests of consumers.”