The insurance industry is one of those sectors often identified by paper-shuffling, complicated business processes, and the need to analyze weighty statistics. Fortunately, insurers also have been among the leaders in using technology to tackle those challenges.

In this year's InformationWeek 500, insurance companies continue their mission of deploying technologies to optimize the efficiency of business processes and glean business insight from complex data. In fact, 91% of InformationWeek 500 insurance companies say they've increased the use of automation to optimize the efficiency of their business processes over the last 12 months. Of the 21 industries analyzed by InformationWeek Research, only metals and natural resources, telecommunications, and media and entertainment have given more attention to boosting efficiency this year.

Cigna's focus has been on the development and implementation of Web 2.0-based tools to help its members seamlessly access richer, business intelligence-driven data. Aflac is rolling out social networking tools, including wikis, blogs, and "MySpace-type tools" for internal collaboration. "We're using these tools internally in IT now," says Brian Abeyta, VP of IT of Aflac's project management office, "but we'll push them out later."