BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Discovery Insure’s Vitality drive Smartphone program was recognized with a Celent Model Insure Award in the Innovation and Emerging Technologies category. The awards ceremony was held in Boston and recognized best practice technology usage in various areas critical to success in insurance. Discovery Insure applied for this award with its long-standing technology partner – Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT).

“Discovery Insure is pleased to win the prestigious Celent Model Insurer Award for Innovation and Emerging Technologies. With high accident rates and road deaths being a concern for many countries, our approach continues to be making drivers aware of their poor driving behavior and motivating them to improve – reducing the number and severity of accidents and claims. We do this because we understand that the nature of risk is behavioral,” says Ilan Ossin, head of telematics at Discovery Insure.

The Vitality drive program, powered by telematics technology from Discovery Insure partner Cambridge Mobile Telematics, uses rewards-based incentives to encourage better driving behavior, directly reducing the cost of insurance, as better drivers have fewer and less severe accidents.

“These savings are passed back to the clients through Vitality drive rewards, and society benefits as roads become safer. This is called the Shared-Value Insurance model, because value is created and shared between the insurer, clients and society,” says Ossin.

Discovery Insure’s Vitality drive Sensor and Smartphone application developed in partnership with CMT is an innovative smartphone-enabled technology called DQ-Track. It enables Discovery Insure to measure vehicle dynamics (acceleration, braking, cornering), time of day, and mileage, and enables drivers with smartphones to improve their driving behavior to ultimately reduce the risk of an accident.

“Discovery’s implementation of the Vitality drive program is already showing positive results and we see this award as further proof that telematics can be the answer to many of today’s road safety issues,” said Hari Balakrishnan, founder and CTO at CMT. “We are continuously improving our program with Discovery and are proud to partner with them on such a worthy mission.”

The Celent Model Insurer, an annual program now celebrating its 12^th year, accepts global nominations in five categories: Data, Analytics and AI, Digital and Omnichannel Technologies, Innovation and Emerging Technologies, Legacy and Ecosystem Transformation, and Operational Excellence.

Celent offers Discovery Insure a further special mention: “The smartphone-enabled telematics technology with the innovative IoT Vitality drive sensor reduces the logistics for enabling the telematics program. This positions the program for continued, future growth. Second, the smartphone app serves as an active touch point with the customers, providing the opportunity for higher customer engagement and increased loyalty.”

About Cambridge Mobile Telematics
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) makes roads and drivers safer around the world. Founded in 2010 by two MIT professors and experienced entrepreneurs, CMT pioneered telematics for behavior-based insurance (BBI) and deployed the first solution to provide both traditional vehicle-centric UBI and BBI. With over 30 customers in 16 countries, CMT has a proven record of changing driver behavior: an average reduction of 35 percent in phone distraction, 20 percent in hard braking, and 20 percent in at-risk speeding all within less than 30 days of using the program. For more information, please visit cmtelematics.com and follow us on Twitter @cmtelematics.

About Discovery Insure
Discovery Insure is a South African-founded financial services organization that operates in the healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, savings and investment products and wellness markets. Founded in 1992, Discovery was guided by a clear core purpose – to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Underpinning this core purpose is the belief that through innovation, Discovery can be a powerful market disruptor.

Discovery is an authorized financial services provider and trades under the code “DSY” on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange. Follow us on Twitter @Discovery_SA.