Trust remains one of the insurance industry’s most important foundations. Yet concerns surrounding fraudulent claims, delayed payouts and disputed contracts continue to challenge confidence between insurers and policyholders. Marianne Grace Akinyi, a student at The Co-operative University of Kenya, explores how emerging technologies can help address these challenges in her completed research paper, Actuaries as Architects of Data Trust: Leveraging Blockchain and IoT for Risk Transparency in African Insurance Markets.
The research proposes combining blockchain technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) to strengthen transparency, improve the reliability of insurance data and support more accountable risk assessment. IoT devices can capture relevant real-time information, while blockchain can provide tamper-resistant records of transactions and verified events. Together, these technologies could help insurers assess risks more consistently, improve claims verification and reduce disputes between insurance providers and customers.
What distinguishes the research is its perspective on technology as more than a tool for digitising existing insurance processes. It reimagines how trust itself can be built into the insurance ecosystem, with actuarial science helping transform reliable data into better risk assessment, pricing and decision-making. The proposed approach has potential applications across African insurance markets, where stronger data integrity and transparency could support greater accountability and customer confidence. Its practical implementation would, however, depend on appropriate regulatory frameworks, data privacy safeguards and industry integration.
Presented at the 2026 National Product Development Competition, the research reflects the growing role of emerging actuarial professionals in exploring innovative solutions to longstanding industry challenges. As the study moves beyond completion, opportunities exist for collaboration with insurers, insurtech companies, technology developers and researchers to explore how blockchain-enabled records and IoT-driven data can be applied responsibly in real-world insurance operations.
Through its Product Development Competition, the Actuarial Students Society of Kenya (ASSK) continues to showcase research that pushes actuarial thinking beyond traditional boundaries and encourages innovation across the financial services sector.
Meet the Researcher
Marianne Grace Akinyi – The Co-operative University of Kenya
Email: gracemarianne71@gmail.com
LinkedIn: Connect with Marianne Grace Akinyi
Interested in collaboration or partnership? Contact ASSK to explore opportunities to advance innovative actuarial research and build a more transparent, data-driven insurance future for Africa.
This product was presented in this year’s (2026) National PDC held at Daystar University