This discussion brief is the first in a series of short guides that will explore topics related to the use of computable contracts in the insurance industry. They are offered by the CodeX Insurance Initiative, a project of CodeX – The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, as a resource for education, discussion, research and application development. For more information on the Initiative, see https://law.stanford.edu/projects/codex-insurance-initiative/.

This paper is the first in a series exploring the use of computable contracts in insurance. It provides a conceptual overview, explaining the core concepts of computable contracting and briefly touching on the many areas where these approaches can benefit customers, providers, and regulators in the insurance industry. It will also identify two of the principal challenges standing in the way of achieving these benefits.