Imagine you’re at the airport waiting for a flight to that insurance conference, and you start to wonder: Are all the doors and windows at home locked? Did I shut off the oven before I left? Is the security alarm activated?

But instead of worrying, you take out your cell phone, press a few buttons, and secure your home before takeoff.

Shortly after you arrive at the conference, a delivery person comes to your house with a package.

Normally, he or she would leave the package at the front door, since no signature is required. But within a few seconds, you see the delivery person via your smartphone and instruct him to leave the package with your next-door neighbor.

A few days later, you receive a text message that a pipe in your basement has begun to leak. The message, however, isn’t from your neighbor. It’s from the smart water detection system installed in your house that allows you to shut off the water with your smartphone and helps prevent major damage from occurring.

For years, those types of risk mitigation scenarios were only a dream. But today, thanks to the spread of wireless communication and technological innovation, that dream is becoming a reality. The Internet of Things (IoT) is burgeoning and bringing with it both enormous benefits and significant risks.

How will the growth of the IoT affect property/ casualty insurance? It is too early to tell for certain, but it’s not too early to think about the ways that the interconnection of smart objects may change how both you and your current and future customers conduct business.

Last summer, an article in Forbes about the IoT’s growth cited one expert who said GE estimates that “the ‘Industrial Internet’ has the potential to add $10 trillion to $15 trillion (with a ‘T’) to the global GDP over the next 20 years, and Cisco [has increased] to $19 trillion its forecast for the economic value created by the ‘Internet of Everything’ in the year 2020.”

The IoT may not be completely here yet, but consider its potential impact and how the insurance industry will need to adapt. That said, as the technology and its applications evolve, here are a number of ways you can become part of this new, connected world.

Educate your customers about cyber safety.

IoT devices can often be hacked as easily as your computer. According to an HP study in August, 70% of the most commonly used IoT devices contain serious vulnerabilities. Former Vice President Dick Cheney recognized the risk back in 2007, when he had the wireless feature of his defibrillator disabled due to concern that it could be hacked by terrorists.

So what can you do? Teach your customers about the importance of cyber safety.

Your customers probably use smartphones that may contain large quantities of business data or perhaps even their personally identifiable information. Those phones currently or in the future will likely provide access to their IoT devices. Remind your customers that it’s a good idea to create secure and hard-to-guess passwords on their phones using a unique combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters instead of “1234,” “ABCD,” or “password.” Suggest downloading antivirus software on mobile phones. Warn customers to be wary of suspicious emails and text messages, and to avoid clicking on any unfamiliar links or attachments.

Discuss emerging trends in IoT devices. The IoT is growing so rapidly that it can become difficult to see which innovations could truly change the way we live. According to a recent study by Affinnova, more than 40% of consumers feel that most current smart products are more gimmicky than useful. The least desired smart products, according to the study, are razors that alert you when a blade needs to be replaced and baby diapers that let you know when they need to be changed. The same study also noted that the most desired are laundry machines that can be controlled with your mobile phone and refrigerators equipped with video cameras that can show you what you have stocked and suggest possible recipes. Other IoT devices growing in popularity include light bulbs and environmental control thermostats that can be regulated remotely from your phone or tablet.

At your next lunch with a customer, share what you find to be the most surprising trends in the IoT and how they might change the way we live. Ask for your customer’s perspective and begin a dialogue. Follow up with an email and a link to a story about what you’ve discussed. If you have a blog, consider writing about the Internet of Things and sharing it on social media. The goal is not only to learn about the emerging world of the IoT but also to establish yourself as knowledgeable on the topic. As IoT insurance develops further—and it will before you know it—you want your name to be foremost in customers’ minds.

Look for new business opportunities. Given the potential economic impact of the IoT, you might consider at least keeping an eye on the growth potential for your book of business from current customers and/or new markets. It takes only a little imagination to envision what effect the IoT could have on a wide range of industries from manufacturing to retail, education, and financial services. And then there are the new or expanded businesses that may develop from this expanding sector. A research brief from CompTIA last fall reported the following kinds of companies are poised to benefit from the IoT, including: device, data analytics/big data, telecom carrier and cable, and networking and sensor/ chip companies; businesses skilled at tying services together; platform and ecosystem providers; and IT solution providers, among others.

It’s important to be aware that the IoT is prevalent around the world. Nice, France, is a smart city that’s using IoT technology to help drivers find parking spots, make streetlights more efficient, and optimize garbage collection times. About 600 miles to the west sits the city of Santander, Spain, where reportedly more than 12,000 sensors have been installed downtown to measure not only trash receptacle and parking spot usage but the size of crowds on the sidewalks as well.

If you go to Boston, you can sit on a Soofa, a new solar-powered bench that can charge your cell phone. Visit Buffalo during a snowstorm and see how its GPS-equipped plows can alert you in real time when your street has been cleared. Or stop by the new Hudson Yards project under construction on the West Side of Manhattan. The project, when completed, will likely feature a number of smart technologies, including a micro power grid and vacuum tubes that transport trash and recyclables.

Of course, since you work in insurance, you know that the IoT involves more than amazing technological advancements. You know about the risks: What potential damages and injuries could result from making a city “smart”? Who’s liable for the potential costs if the systems stop working? What measures could smart cities take to mitigate risks, and how might those affect potential coverage? And what changes are coming to a city or town near you?

You won’t find the answers to those questions from a quick search on the Internet. But you’ll be on your way if you start to embrace the Internet of Things.

The author

Shawn Dougherty is assistant vice president of Specialty Commercial Lines at ISO, a Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.