Discovery Insure, a sister company of Discovery Health, has signed a deal with US-based Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT) as the South African insurance company seeks to expand its use of technology to monitor clients’ driver behaviour.

CMT developed technology embedded in smartphone applications that allows users to interact with sensor data in their phones and cars.

Discovery Limited CEO Adrian Gore said in a statement on Tuesday that the deal helps position Discovery Insure strongly in behaviour-based short-term insurance.

“While insurers are using telematics technology to monitor and track driving behaviour with discounts on premiums to policyholders, Discovery Insure harnesses both telematics technology and behavioural economics to promote safer driving,” Gore said.

CMT was founded by computer scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its technologies are embedded in popular mobile apps. The three-year-old Discovery Insure, which was created through the Discovery Vitality “wellness” programme, uses telematics devices to measure and report key aspects of driving behaviour. The system was developed in collaboration with Formula 1 designer Rory Byrne.

In the statement, Discovery said ABI Research, a US research company, estimates that the number of monitored drivers worldwide will rise from 1,8m in 2010 to 89m in 2017. It said the ability to change driving behaviour through robust and accurate measurement and attractive incentives had “significant potential to reduce mortality rates over the long term”. – © 2014 NewsCentral Media