The Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA) held its 10th annual symposium in Tampa, Fla., Sept. 17-19.

Members and guests had the opportunity to hear a wide range of speakers discuss relevant industry issues, including blockchain, photo estimating, OEM vehicle recalls, automated parts procurement, telematics and the connected car, Xsd2JsonSchema and positioning yourself in the collision repair industry.

One of the highlights of the event was the gifting of a vehicle by the National Auto Body Council (NABC), Allstate and Caliber Collision-St. Petersburg. Tampa military veteran Deundre Williams received a 2016 Kia Optima as part of the NABC’s Recycled Rides program.

The diverse group of attendees included information providers, repairers, insurers, parts and materials suppliers, and rental car companies. Throughout the three-day symposium, they had the opportunity to discuss and learn about electronic data standards and how they impact all industry stakeholders.

“It’s an exciting time to be involved in the CIECA organization,” said Clint Marlow, chairman of the board for CIECA. “Over the next several years, we’re going to see a lot of innovation in the industry. What makes that innovation possible is data standards.”

CIECA’s mission is to develop and promote electronic communication standards, codes and standard messages that allow the collision industry to be more efficient.

“CIECA standards help organizations do business more efficiently by improving data flow and reducing errors,” said Fred Iantorno, executive director of CIECA. “CIECA standards can be used to seamlessly exchange information with external partners, or between departments within companies/organizations.”

Since the last CIECA Symposium, Iantorno said that membership has continued to increase and there are currently 17 different volunteer Standard Development Committees, including Architecture, Photo Estimating, FNOL (First Notice of Loss), Repair Order, Repair Status, Scheduling, Salvage and Rental.

“We offer our members the opportunity to learn effective strategic and tactical plans for integrating CIECA standards into their businesses,” said Iantorno. “Information is regularly shared to help improve application processing, and members also have the opportunity to network and learn from each other.”

CIECA will hold its next symposium, “CIECA Connex,” Sept. 16-18, 2019 in Charlottesville, Va.

For more information on CIECA, visit cieca.com.