As part of an ongoing effort to streamline the insurance standards development process, ACORD announced a redesign of its ACORD standards committee. ACORD's committees are made up of members who guide the standards development process as well as resolve issues, establish subgroups, and work to support implementation initiatives. The ACORD board of directors approved these changes making the ACORD standards committee more agile and able to meet the specific requirements of diverse member communities.

“In looking at ourselves and our structure, it was clear that we needed to take a more holistic approach to our standards across groups. What we've done is modify our existing ACORD standards committee infrastructure to address the growing and diverse communities that ACORD serves. Our ASC chairs have the knowledge, the expertise, the strength, and the experience that will guide our ongoing development efforts more efficiently than ever before,” says Gregory A. Maciag, president and CEO, ACORD. Chairing the committee is Monique Hesseling, head of personal lines/small commercial segment development for Zurich. She has been actively involved with ACORD for many years and previously headed the reinsurance domain steering committee.

Her vice chairs are Joan Falcetta, vice president, information technology group for MetLife and prior chair of the ACORD life and annuities domain steering committee, and Anne Rannie, manager, market operations for Lloyds' of London and previously subcommittee chair for ACORD's reinsurance steering committee. “This new alignment of committees will enable us to more quickly and appropriately respond to industry needs and improve the overall process of developing ACORD's standards,” said Hesseling. “Over the years I've been involved with ACORD, I've seen both ACORD and its standards expand in scope, depth, and geography. By reexamining and redesigning the committees in this way, we hope to be more in tune with industry needs and get even more people involved in the process. It will further enhance the Standards while making us more proactive.”

Also designed to meet the needs of its many constituencies, ACORD formed six standards development groups focused on specific member communities. These are:

• Life/annuity, chaired by Walter Berkowicz, enterprise architect, Allstate Financial
• Property/casualty, chaired by Sandi Perillo, senior business consultant, The Hartford
• Reinsurance, chaired by Ian Summers , managing director of e-business and market reform, Aon Benfield
• Common services, chaired by Jim Brain, director, enterprise architecture, CNA Surety Corporation
• Australia committee, chaired by Troy Filipcevic, executive manager of distribution technology, Suncorp
• South Africa committee, chaired by Jan de Klerk, Santam International

“The ACORD standards committee, its members, and all of ACORD's members continue to work together to improve the standards as well as the processes used to develop and implement them,” says Maciag. “This modified infrastructure will be a strong foundation and a great benefit to ACORD, the industry, and our collective success.”