The founding of Hubbcast over one year ago came about because Co-Founder and CEO Mohammad Aghababaie identified a “significant gap” in the insurance industry which could be filled by leveraging IoT data, he told IoT Insider in an exclusive interview.
Hubbcast is a low-code platform that provides insights to property developers using data drawn from sensors and IoT devices. The driving idea behind the company and platform is that historically, property management and managers have not had a wealth of insights and data for decision-making with regards to insurance policies, and Hubbcast is changing that with its platform.
Transforming traditional insurance assessments
Traditionally, Aghababaie explained that property insurers don’t use data taken from smart devices around a building. “Using our platform, they have access to available and validated data taken from a smart device in the building so they can improve their risk assessment. They can also reduce fraud,” he said.
Because of the amount of data that IoT devices generate, over the years it has been recognised that this data is ripe for picking, and can be used to improve a whole range of processes. Applying IoT to insurance services has meant harnessing this data to understand, determine and predict risks easier.
According to Aghababaie: “IoT applications have become widely used in the insurance industry, particularly in the automotive industry.” An example of what this looks like is taking advantage of the data created by sensors that more modern cars are equipped with, to understand driving behaviours and how the car is used, as well as tyre pressure and brakes wear.
“The use of IoT in property and home insurance is relatively new,” added Aghababaie. “We want to provide IoT as a service for the commercial insurance sector to offer real-time data analytics and seamless integration.”
How does Hubbcast work?
The platform in question collects data from IoT devices, and in doing so, “this provides real time insight for better risk management and operational efficiency. This allows the insurer to make informed decisions and proactively manage risk,” said Aghababaie.
The kinds of risks that property managers are looking for include, for example, the risk of fire or theft. Aghababaie explained that they can connect to a device like a smart fire alarm or other IoT sensors in order to assess these risks.
Another area in which Hubbcast is focusing is the question of interoperability, which has become a hot button topic for smart home devices and device manufacturers. Matter, which is a protocol created by the Connectivity Standards, aims to facilitate interoperability between smart home devices so that, regardless of the brand behind the device, they can communicate with one another within a home.
“We provide a local platform which enables the property developer or insurer to create an application seamlessly without extensive coding,” Aghababaie said. “They can also integrate different IoT manufacturers because we handle and manage different protocols.” These include protocols widely used in commercial buildings such as MODBUS, BACnet and OpenAPI.
Currently, Hubbcast are focusing on commercial buildings, which is where the Hubbcast Node came from – an IoT middleware solution which was designed to extract data regardless of the building management system (BMS) in place. Aghababaie explained they are focusing on creating a fully functional Hubbcast Node which can take data from most building management systems (BMS) in Europe.
“I’m excited about the future of Hubbcast and our potential to integrate IoT in property insurance,” Aghababaie concluded.
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