MWCIA's joint effort through the American Cooperative Council on Compensation Technology (ACCCT) to convert the Policy and Risk Information System for Minnesota (PRISM) to an Oracle client/server application called Spectrum was successful and implementation at our offices is well on its way. Spectrum is also being implemented in North Carolina and Wisconsin. Our other ACCCT project, BEEP, involves the cooperation of eight states. It was on schedule for beta testing in the 1st Quarter of 1997 and shipment in the 2nd Quarter.

MWCIA is employing technology to better communicate with its publics. Workers' compensation insurance is complicated in concept, in its math, and in its language. Our key staff, and the underwriters in particular, are often called upon to speak on one or more aspects of the business. One of the most common requests is to explain experience rating. Since this is difficult to do in an hour, no less the usual half-hour allotted luncheon speakers, MWCIA produced a video called "Minnesota's Experience Rating Plan." It covers the topic in twenty-five minutes.

Also in 1996, MWCIA launched its website, www.mwcia.org. This annual report, our circular letters, and other information about Association products and services are available at this Internet address. Our goal for the Internet is to create a useful and interactive website, where most of our information will be available on-line and customizable to the needs of the user. While improvements are being made to the website, we are also updating our bulletin board service, MWCIA BBS.

The optical document storage and retrieval system rid the office of files, and the rows and stacks of file shelving and cabinets used to store them. The Association, however, continues to seek improvements to the document management software to achieve better performance and functionality.

A reduction in paperwork has also been achieved by the increased amount of data being submitted in electronic format by our member companies. Unit data entered or transferred to the BEEP package for editing has also reduced paperwork, as BEEP outputs to tape, disk, or network modem. Secure electronic data transfer via the Internet will be another option available to members sometime in the future.

In closing, I would like to thank our valued employees for their efforts in 1996. Their talent and dedication have been most important to the success of the Association. The Association staff and management would also like to thank the Minnesota Commerce Department and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry for their cooperation during the last year. A special thanks is due to those individuals who served on the Association's Board of Directors. Their assistance and guidance were of enormous value.

  - John P. Hildebrandt