Minister Isola opens a Gibraltar insurance conference on the future of road transport from an insurance perspective

Minister Isola gives the welcome address at a Gibraltar insurance conference on artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles and their impact on motor insurance.

Minister Isola gave the welcome address at an insurance conference held in Gibraltar Finance’s offices on Wednesday 3 November 2021 entitled “The future of road transport; an insurance perspective”. The conference was co-hosted by Gibraltar Finance, the Gibraltar Insurance Association and UK law firm Weightmans LLP and was attended by around 100 insurance professionals both in person and online via a professional live stream.

The keynote speaker was Edmondo Orlotti, a director at Hewlett Packard Enterprises based in Milan, who spoke about artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles and their impact on motor insurance. James Todd QC, a London barrister, presented on how the introduction of autonomous vehicles will start to impact motor insurance liability claims and who will be liable.

Albert Isola MP, Gibraltar’s Minister for Digital and Financial Services stated: “We have seen how the introduction of new technology within the motor industry in recent years has started to transform both motor vehicles and the driving experience with a range of safety features such as automatic emergency braking and stability controls systems being implemented. The development of autonomous vehicles is well advanced but we were told today thatit will probably be atleastten years before their mass adoption. This is a topic of great interest and importance to Gibraltar’s motor insurance sector and we welcomed the opportunity to co-host today’s conference.

“The conference also covered e-mobility and the rapid increase in the number of e-Scooters worldwide. HM Government of Gibraltar published a Command Paper on e-Scooters in 2020. New legislation is expected shortly to provide a legal framework to ensure this new method oftransport, which is well suited to a small country like Gibraltar, develops as safely as possible for all road users.”

Elaine Chapman, Partner at Weightmans LLP and Conference Chair said: “It was a privilege and a pleasure to co-host the event today in conjunction with Gibraltar Finance and the Gibraltar InsuranceAssociation.We look forward toworkingwith insurers and others in relation to the issues and challenges discussed today, and helping them through what will be the biggest revolution in motor insurance in many years.”