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Author
 Anthony O'Donnell
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Profile of Anthony O'Donnell

Blog Posts: 2240

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information technology in the property/casualty, life and health insurance industries, following the trends and issues faced by senior technology executives. In addition to reporting and editorial duties for I&T, O'Donnell also serves as a moderator and speaker at industry events and broadcasts. He began his editorial career in the healthcare industry where he reported and edited for medical publications with a variety of audiences, from the general public to physicians and researchers. He has also worked in the healthcare field as a media relations professional and Spanish/English interpreter/translator, and has taught English composition and conversation classes to native speakers of Spanish, both in the United States and in Latin America. O'Donnell lives in the Portland, Oregon area with his wife and two sons.

Articles by Anthony O'Donnell
posted in March 2008

Nationwide Financial Chooses Information Builders

3/27/2008
WebFOCUS will enable NSF to centralize its reporting infrastructure while maintaining a federated reporting model that will give approximately 1,000 business users, operaions managers and wholesaler users access to real-time information and customized reports.

Economy Portends Insurance IT Budget Cuts

3/25/2008
The subprime mess and the credit crisis it has precipitated is not the event for the insurance industry that it is for banking, but a general economic recession will put some pressure on insurance IT spending.

Securian’s Couillard Champions Ease of Use

3/25/2008
As Securian Financial's manager of field retention, Christopher Couillard collaborates with IT to maximize the quality of the carrier's relationship with distribution partners.

Good Enough for Government Work: Another PHI Security Breach

3/25/2008
The breach, involving medical information of 2,500 individuals, was caused when a laptop was lifted from the trunk of an NIH employee named Andrew Arai, who was dropping his daughter off at a swim meet. The trunk was locked, but the sensitive information contained in the laptop was not.

Has the IT Budget Worm Turned?

3/25/2008
Whether insurance IT budget makers tend to be more bearish or bullish, it may be that, in light of both proven technological advances and improved IT governance, CEOs and CFOs are more comfortable with technology investment in the face of adversity.

Commissioner Savors AIG's Record Fines

3/18/2008
Under the terms of a settlement reached between the carrier and the commissioner, AIG will pay $9.1 million to the state in penalties and investigative costs for financial misreporting, according to the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner's office. The settlement also requires AIG to provide detailed annual reports regarding the company's reinsurance arrangements.

Safeco, Chubb, MetLife Appoint CIOs

3/18/2008
The past few weeks have seen a spate of major appointments with new CIOs named at Safeco, Chubb and MetLife. Robert Ingram replaces Bill Jenks as Safeco CIO; former Chubb claims CIO Jim Knight takes corporate role at Chubb; Jeanette Scampas has become MetLife's enterprise CIO with Steve Sheinheit's retirement.

Spitzer Effect Boomerangs

3/11/2008
By all means, let us insist that the powerful actors of the financial world be held to high standards; let investors be protected and people who ruin others financially be severely punished. But let these objectives be pursued by authorities who are scrupulous in their use of power, and who are dedicated to the presumption of innocence and to proportionate justice.

Carrier Confidential: Allianz of America

3/7/2008
Allianz of America CIO Oliver Bussmann and his senior technology executives have established a shared-services model that allows the carrier's P&C and life companies to leverage IT synergies while remaining focused on their unique challenges.

AXA's Global IT Boss Keeps it Simple

3/5/2008
Etienne Aubourg, CEO of AXA Technology Services, applies the lessons of manufacturing to AXA Group's Paris-based global technology organization.

LaRocco New Fireman’s Fund CEO

3/4/2008
LaRocco arrived at Fireman's Fund from Safeco (Seattle), where he had been president and chief operating officer. LaRocco is also a veteran of Geico Corporation, where he had been a vice president responsible for the company's Northeast region.

Social Networking and the SIU

3/4/2008
It seems like a pretty good idea for insurance companies' special investigative units to keep an eye on social networking sites such as Bebo.com via Web crawler technology that can correlate policyholder addresses to party invitations.

New York Life CEO Named

3/4/2008
New York Life's board of directors has named Ted Mathas to succeed Sy Sternberg as the carrier's CEO, effective July 1.

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