The ability for re/insurers to get almost instant data from major global catastrophes as they occur has moved a step closer following a deal between McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS), and the European Space Agency (ESA).

MIS has been awarded a contract for a European Space Agency (ESA) Demonstration Project.

The geospatial imagery and re/insurance intelligence consultancy will work with the ESA’s Business Applications programme, ESA Space Solutions, with the support of EUR 685,000 of co-funding. It will enable MIS to develop and deliver a Global Event Observer for the insurance industry and to validate its performance with involved pilot users.

Forbes McKenzie, Chief Executive and Founder of MIS, said: “Our relationship with the Lloyd’s market has gone from strength to strength and this announcement is a significant milestone. The value of what MIS can potentially deliver to the market could be truly remarkable in providing very early data from catastrophe or other loss events quicker than the insurance industry has been able to deliver before.

“The possibility of Lloyd’s, insurers, brokers, TPAs and ESA exploring the future applications of space data and processing is another exciting prospect for the industry.”

Since 2016, MIS has exclusively been the geospatial imagery and intelligence provider for Lloyd’s, its managing agents, TPAs and partners.

The ESA-supported Global Event Observer represents the evolution of MIS’ technology capability, and will enable the further collection and use of highly accurate, geotagged external data from a range of sources – including augmenting data from internet of things devices and satellite and aerial imagery – to provide early warnings of loss events thereby increasing opportunities to mitigate the risks and support the transformation of claims workflows.

Nick Appleyard, Head of Space Solutions, ESA, said: “ESA sees a significant opportunity for space to support financial services, in particular the insurance sector, since space-derived data allows a rapid assessment of both risk and damage over a wide area of observation. We’re excited to support MIS for this venture with their partners in the insurance sector, which promises the automatic generation of event-driven claims, based on triggers written into the insurance contract and underpinned by cost-effective and trusted information that can be used to remotely investigate and assess the situation on the ground.”