Three teams across Sagicor Group Jamaica walked away with cash and other prizes as the conglomerate hosted its inaugural Data Innovation Challenge finals. In this competition, Sagicor team members were encouraged to pitch their innovative ideas on how the group can use data to enhance efficiency and better serve its clients.

Sagicor Group Jamaica President and CEO Christopher Zacca, speaking at the Jamaica Pegasus event streamed live to team members, with highlights on the group’s social media platforms, noted that his team is on a mission to make data everybody’s business.

“The success of our business operations is driven by data, and we all should understand its importance and how it impacts the varying processes across the group,” Zacca said. “No matter your role here at Sagicor, you are an instrumental part of driving the data agenda. We are all part of the solution by ensuring that we collect and maintain proper and accurate data, and even more critically, ensuring we treat data with care and in accordance with the regulatory guidelines,” Zacca said.

Earlier this year, the competition received submissions from teams across all the business lines and shared services within the group. These ideas focused on using new technology and existing data to improve team member retention, increase competitiveness, attract and retain clients, and make standard business processes more efficient across all business lines.

After uploading their ideas to an internal website, other Sagicor team members voted for their favourites. A panel of expert judges then reviewed the top 14 submissions and shortlisted six teams to advance to the finals.

At the final event, the six teams were allowed to pitch their ideas live to the panel of judges and respond to their questions. Sectional prizes went to the top three teams.

The first-place winners – the four-member team of actuarial analysts and pension administrators who presented their ‘My Retirement Planner’ idea – received $250,000 and other prizes for their innovation.

A team of underwriters from the Individual Life department’s idea for an Underwriting Risk Management System earned second place and $150,000 cash and other prizes.

The team of three women from Group Human Resource pitched a more integrated ‘People Experience’ for the conglomerate and walked away with the third-place prize of $75,000.

Sagicor Assistant Vice-President, Group Analytics and Revenue Solutions Opal Donaldson-Cross noted that the ongoing pandemic and its related restrictions had highlighted the need for business innovation.

“Now, more than ever, we are seeing just how essential data is to our daily lives and the work that we do here at Sagicor. Key innovations in our data systems have been a critical part of how quickly we recovered from the sudden restrictions on face-to-face interactions,” she said.