Each year, the E-Fusion Conference features a multitude of knowledgeable speakers who discuss how they meet technology challenges to advance the business of insurance within their organization. Accordingly, Chief Information/Technology Officers from a few insurance companies were invited to help focus the E-Fusion 2004 conference agenda on the topics of most concern to insurance technology decision makers. Download this year's brochure.

Scheduled Sessions*
Sunday, Oct. 17
1 - 6 p.m.
Preliminary Judging for E-Fusion Awards

7 - 9 p.m.
Welcome Reception
Aris Melissaratos, Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development

Monday, Oct. 18
8 a.m.

Innovation Imperative:
Dennis Callahan, Guardian Life Insurance Co.
How to practice cutting-edge technology in an increasingly robust regulatory environment.

9 a.m.
New Federal Mandates and Old IT: Imperfect Together:
Cynthia Saccocia, TowerGroup 
Kathleen Jensen, PCIA 
New rules 'blow the cover off hodgepodge IT,' one report notes. Hot spots: Sarbanes-Oxley, Patriot Act, HIPAA, GLB and more.

9 a.m.
Heading Off the Process Server:
Alan Rutkin, Rivkin Radler, LLP
Kit Chaskin, Sachnoff & Weaver 
Case law, pending litigation and legislation affecting the liability environment for insurance technologists.

10 a.m.
State and Local Regulatory Hot Spots: What to Know, What to Prepare for Now
Lawrence Mirel, District of Columbia Department of Insurance
Marsha Harrison, NAMIC
What to know, what to prepare for now. Topics include: Notification, fair reporting, anti-spam and more.

10 a.m.
Project Management Boot Camp:
Chuck Johnston, Callidus Software
John Kellington, Ohio Casualty Group 
How to make your vendors and employees deliver exceptional results on time and on budget.

11 a.m.
Securing the Last Mile:
Steve Orrin, Watchfire, Inc.
John Quinn, Cap Gemini US 
New rules and savvier attackers mean security is an escalating battle. Where insurers must defend, why yesterday's defenses aren't adequate.

11 a.m.
Scalable Solutions:
Michael Edwards, American Skyline Insurance Co.
Larry Robbins, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans 
How fraternals and regional insurers are leveraging new technology and ingenuity to take on large-scale challenges.

1 p.m.
On the Regulatory Horizon:
Ernst Csiszar, PCIA
James McMahan, State of Maryland
What's ahead in some of the hottest states in e-filing, SERFF, company and agent licensing and more.

2 p.m.
Meeting Today's Mandates Without Sacrificing Tomorrow's Opportunities:
Dr. Charles Emery, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ  
Dr. Charles "Chuck" Emery is remaking one of the nation's largest health operations into a highly compliant, automated and information-centralized operation. He's also a down-to-earth speaker with an eye on the practical.

3 p.m.
E-Fusion Awards Final Judging

Tuesday, Oct. 19
8 a.m.
One for All:
Yom Senegor, Safeco
How Safeco did a high-wire turnaround, shedding lines, agents, customers and employees. All the while, it was fashioning a new IT backbone on which to stake its future. Now it's showtime.

9 a.m.
Web Services: In Insurance-Based Approach:
Randy Wheeler, Valley Oak Systems
Matthew Josefowicz, Celent Communications
Guru Vasudeva, Nationwide 
Everybody talks about Web services, but not as many people who know about them are using them--yet. Where Web services have caught hold, where new potential is developing and why they're not a solution for every problem.

9 a.m.
Where the Agent/broker Desktop Is Going:
Jeff Yates, IIABA
Todd Silverhart, LIMRA 
New standards and real-time interface are changing the way producers are working and linking to carriers.

10 a.m.
Life in the Fast Lane:
Michael McFarland, Prudential
Robert Haran, MA Mutual Life Insurance Co. 
How automated underwriting and new data tools are driving breakthroughs in speedier turnaround, better risk selection and new paths to the middle market.

10 a.m.
The New Risk Segmentation in Property/Casualty Underwriting:
Lamont Boyd, Fair Isaac Corp.
Charles Neeson, Westfield Group 
A barrage of new data and information tools are harnessing financial models, historical patterns and individualized information analysis. The result: insurers who don't pay attention to the new tools may end up insuring a competitor's rejected business.

11 a.m.
Technology and the Rating Perspective:
Michael Cohen, A.M. Best Co. 
How technology impacts financial strength and business profile. Insurers' approaches to technology and electronic communication are playing a larger role in determining their ability to survive today's fast-changing markets. An inside look at how analysts gauge that commitment, and the role it plays in shaping their view of companies and the industry.
  
11 a.m.
Get Smarter: The New Rules of Business Intelligence:
Joe Heintjes, GE ERC Group
Dave Wittman, GE ERC Group 
Cutting-edge insurers and reinsurers have made an art of pulling together disparate information and putting it at managers' fingertips. But too much information is too little knowledge. What to ignore may be just as important as what to report.

1 p.m.
Using Technology to Monitor Complex Transactions:
Steve Drill, Q. Know Technologies
Vineet Kalucha, Q. Know Technologies
John Soares, Arch Re 
New regulatory requirements, plus recent high-profile litigation have insurers turning to technology solutions to get a handle on the hundreds of elements involved in a typical reinsurance, placement or investment negotiation. How one multinational is keeping tabs on its commitments.

2 p.m.
Compliance Matters
Julie Klapstein, Availity, LLC
2003 E-Fusion Award winner Availity gives a behind-the-scenes tour of how to keep tabs on millions of insurerds, thousands of doctors, scores of hospitals and multiple insurers while observing today's requirements for privacy, regulation and compliance.

3 p.m.
E-Fusion Awards Presentation
Paul C. Tinnirello, A.M. Best Co.
Lee McDonald, A.M. Best Co. 

*All subject to change. Check back often for the latest schedule.