Growth for workers' compensation insurers is down, but experts at research and advisory firm Novarica say firms are strategizing with updated technology to stay competitive.

Novarica released a new report, Business and Technology Trends for 2010: Workers' Compensation, highlighting recent technology initiatives by workers compensation insurers and top issues for 2010-2011.

"New business growth is down due to increased business failures, and fewer new businesses being started. Rising unemployment is eroding payrolls and the workers comp's exposure base," notes Karlyn Carnahan, a principal in Novarica's insurance practice and lead author of the study. "Competitive pressures drive price declines which eat into premiums above and beyond recession-induced exposure losses. All of this makes the marketplace intensely competitive, and technology-enabled performance is the key to competition."