I recently interviewed Jared Kirby, who in October was appointed deputy insurance commissioner for market regulation, for an upcoming Closer Look profile. An interesting tidbit from that interview that Kirby relayed to me is the increasing use of satellite technology to fight insurance fraud. Following the devastating tornadoes in Marshalltown, for instance, the Iowa Insurance Division assessed aerial images provided by the National Crime Insurance Bureau’s Geospatial Intelligence Center. “We were able to go in and look at conditions before and after, and determine whether something occurred or it didn’t,” said Kirby. “So there is some technology out there that is certainly advancing our efficiency.”  The latest use by the federal agency of the technology is in speeding up claims payments and fraud detection in the aftermath of wildfires in California, according to news releases on the NCIB’s website.