A new report from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Deloitte has revealed insurance companies rank among the highest achievers on its data maturity scale.

The Demystifying Data 2022 report measures more than 600 companies across Australia and New Zealand on their ability to incorporate data usage into decision making.

The findings show half of the surveyed Finance and Insurance firms are ranked in “advanced” or “mastery” ratings, which the report says shows “firmwide data strategy, analytics embedded frequently into decision-making”.

AWS says the report reveals that Australian and NZ organisations that “harness the power of data” can grow annual business revenues by 9.5% on average.

Deloitte Access Economics Partner John O'Mahony hailed the results, saying it showed good progress, but greater investments can be made.

“We are excited to see that more organisations have advanced their data capabilities, which will help them to drive productivity, create a positive impact on the economy, while delivering significant financial returns for their business,” Mr O’Mahony said.

“Investing in cloud solutions will help businesses to further accelerate their data capabilities and leverage advanced analytics tools such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Internet of Things to achieve data driven insights.”

The report found that 42% of surveyed businesses rank in the lower sections of data maturity, with lack of funding and Covid-19-related issues among the most common reasons for the limited results.