No, I’m not talking about the insurance policy that you may need for buying that big holiday gift. Rather, I’m talking about the conference that Lloyd’s of London has scheduled to discuss nanotechnology risks in the context of insurance.
On December 10, 2007, in the Old Library at Lloyd’s, the company and Lighthill Risk Network will hold a conference to examine "the risks and opportunities of nanotechnology." Included in the conference will be experts from various fields to discuss nanotechnology developments throughout the industry. Lloyd’s has already released one article on the subject, and plans to release a report in December to analyze nanotechnology issues. More information on the conference, and Lloyd’s Emerging Risks Group can be found here and here.
Insurance companies are beginning to analyze the unique issues presented by nanotechnology in society. Given the industry’s previous encounters with risks such as asbestos and environmental contamination of real estate, its understandable that insurers may be more wary of this new technology. Life everyone else though, insurance companies are only now starting to be able to assess the risks associated with nanomaterials, and most find themselves in the same position of the rest of us: what to do in the absence of regulation?
