On a seemingly normal Thursday morning, several school districts in Trumbull County, Ohio, were forced to cancel classes due to an unprecedented internet and phone outage. Districts including Warren City Schools, Southington, McDonald, Hubbard, Howland, Liberty, and Champion were all affected. According to Matt Roth, public relations coordinator at the Trumbull County Educational Service Center, some of the districts were already on spring break, but the outage still caused significant disruption.

The cause of the outage was an equipment issue, according to Roth. The Trumbull County Educational Service Center was also closed due to internet outages. Brian Greathouse, executive director of Northeast Ohio Management Information Network, which provides network services to Trumbull County school districts, expected the issues to be resolved by the end of the day on Thursday. However, he also noted that this outage was the first of its kind in probably 10 years or more.

As insurance executives, you may be wondering what this has to do with you. The truth is, events like this highlight the importance of insurance, especially in the digital age. With so much of our lives and businesses relying on technology, the consequences of an outage can be severe. In this case, schools were forced to cancel classes, causing disruption for students, parents, and teachers alike. But what if a similar outage were to occur in a hospital, a bank, or a major corporation? The consequences could be catastrophic.

This is where insurance comes in. Traditional insurance policies may not cover losses due to technology outages, but parametric insurance can. Parametric insurance is a type of insurance that pays out when a specific event occurs, such as a hurricane or earthquake. In the case of a technology outage, parametric insurance could be designed to pay out when certain conditions are met, such as a certain number of hours of downtime or a certain number of affected users.

At Riskwolf, we specialize in helping insurers build and operate parametric insurance at scale. Using unique real-time data and dynamic risk modeling, we enable insurers to turn real-time data into insurance. This means that when an event like the Trumbull County outage occurs, insurers can quickly and easily pay out claims to affected parties, helping to mitigate the financial impact of the outage.

In conclusion, the Trumbull County outage serves as a reminder of the importance of insurance in the digital age. As technology becomes increasingly central to our lives and businesses, the consequences of an outage can be severe. Parametric insurance offers a solution, providing coverage for events that traditional insurance policies may not cover. If you’re an insurance executive looking to stay ahead of the curve, get in touch with Riskwolf today to learn more about how we can help you develop parametric insurance for your clients. And for more information on the Trumbull County outage, check out the original article by Mason Cole at TribToday.com.