Successful Workshop on Technical Risk Mitigation & Insurance

By Jürg Meierhofer, ZHAW

In a half-day workshop organized by the Expert Group Smart Services on March 28, participants from seven different organizations (data science, tech, sensoring systems, insurance, service design) came together to explore effective strategies for managing risks of operating industrial assets. The workshop focused on various aspects of risk mitigation, including preventive measures, impact reduction, and decision-making processes. 

Preventing risks before they occur is crucial for maintaining a secure and efficient business environment of industrial assets. Our discussions highlighted the preventive measures primarily by technical solutions. Leveraging technology, such as sensor-based monitoring systems, enhances risk detection and early intervention. By proactively identifying potential threats, organizations can prevent adverse outcomes.

However, technologies for preventive and reactive measures open the door for prescriptive measures. This can result in optimizing the performance of an asset over its lifecycle. In this manner, risk mitigation expands into a broader context of asset value optimization, while insurance adopts the perspective of investment optimization. Departing from the conclusion of the predecessor workshop in August 2023 (https://databooster.ch/databooster-workshop-managing-financial-risks-of-smart-services/), the discussion moved to the question of the extent to which technical solutions are scalable or have to be developed from scratch for each application case. We concluded that certain verticals can be effectively standardized for scalability, while others remain within the realm of specialized solutions.