June 16, 2014: Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC) and Qatar Insurance Company (QIC) have signed a partnership agreement to work together in introducing innovative applications and services that will enhance road safety through innovative insurance offers and incentives. The partnership was signed in an event held on June 16th at QIC’s headquarters in Doha and was attended by senior executives from both organizations.
As a first step in this partnership, QMIC and QIC are teaming up to launch a pilot in the form of a Road Safety competition for a group of volunteers from QIC. The pilot will allow participants to learn about their driving behavior and how they compare with others.
More than 25 % of the employees of QIC in Qatar have volunteered to participate in making the roads in Qatar safer and to help QMIC and QIC determine how to make this technology available to the market – and hence actively support the National Vision of enhancing road safety in Qatar
QMIC and QIC have agreed to pilot Masarak’s intelligent Telematics Platform as a means to be used in assessing drivers’ behavior. This will eventually be used to optimize a driving ranking/assessment system and identify a set of performance indicators that can enable the delivery of new Pay-How-You-Drive insurance plans. These insurance plans can serve as a key motivator to keeping driving habits in check and building an eco-system in Qatar, supporting Road Safety.
MR. Ali Al Fadala, Senior deputy group CEO of QIC commented by saying, “As the national leader in the insurance industry, QIC is proud to partner with another national firm like QMIC to use national innovative systems and technologies to introduce innovative insurance applications for Road Safety and for the first time in the region. This partnership is a key step to make a significant positive difference in Road Safety and driving behavior”.
In this occasion, Dr. Adnan Abu-Dayya, The Executive Director and CEO of QMIC said, “As the regional national leader in the areas of Intelligent Mobility, QMIC is following an integrated approach for delivering services and applications for improving road safety. This includes the delivery of rich traffic info, introducing mobile anti-distraction solutions, and delivering customized services for key market segments including the insurance industry. Our partnership with a leading regional insurance company is a significant step towards delivering Road Safety through innovative insurance applications in Qatar and the region”.
Participating Vehicles will be equipped with Masarak Telematics devices. The in-vehicle device will be able to collect data for evaluating key driving habits including: harsh acceleration, harsh deceleration, over-speeding and distance driven. All these factors will be used by the Masarak iFleet cloud-based system to compute the driver scorecard, where drivers can be then compared and ranked. Such info, especially if coupled with proper incentives, can influence the driving behavior and can have a significant impact on road safety, which is a key priority in Qatar and the region.
This unique partnership between the biggest national Insurance provider in Qatar and the first and leading national mobility innovations center will be the start of a coordinated effort for enhancing a culture of safe driving in Qatar and the region in the future.
About QIC:
QIC is a publicly listed composite insurer with a consistent performance history of 50 years and an underwriting footprint across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Founded in 1964, QIC was the first domestic insurance company in the State of Qatar. Today, QIC is the market leader in Qatar and a dominant insurer in the GCC & MENA region. QIC is one of the highest rated insurers in the Gulf region with a rating of “A/Stable” from Standard & Poor’s and “A/Excellent” by A.M. Best. In terms of profitability and market capitalization, QIC is also the largest insurance company in the MENA region. It is listed on the Qatar Exchange and has a market capitalization in excess of US$ 2.9 billion. For further information on QIC please visit www.qatarinsurance.com
About QMIC:
The Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC), located at the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), is the first independent regional innovations center that was created to leverage the use of emerging mobility technologies and lifestyle in developing and deploying intelligent solutions and smart applications for use in a number of markets including Transportation, Road Safety, Environment, and Smart City Platforms. QMIC was founded with the objective of filling the existing gap in the region for institutions focusing on applied research and solutions delivery with the aim of creating local knowledge-based ventures.
For further information please contact:
[email protected], +974 44592702