- £3 million of funding available to support projects
that will allow the UK’s regulatory environment to keep
pace with technological advances of the future – from
robot guide dogs to 3D printed food
- the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund will keep the UK at the
forefront of regulatory thinking and support businesses
to develop new innovative products and services
- Business Minister : “As we build back better, we want to
ensure dreamers and disruptors aren’t held back by
outdated rules and regulations”
A £3 million funding pot that will ensure the UK’s rules
and regulations keep pace with innovation has opened for
applications today.
Regulators and local authorities will be able to apply for
funds of up to £200,000 from the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund
to deliver initiatives that will help to keep the UK at the
forefront of regulatory thinking and experimentation.
Many regulatory functions are performed at a local level,
from taxi licensing to trading standards. So for the first
time, government has expanded the fund to include local
authorities so regulatory innovations can be tested at a
local, as well as national, level.
Business Minister
said:
As we look to build back better from the pandemic and
make the most of opportunities as an independent nation,
we want to ensure our dreamers and disruptors can
continue to thrive and are not held back by needless red
tape.
This £3 million Regulators’ Pioneer Fund will help
unleash innovation in every corner of the UK by ensuring
our rules and regulations keep up with the rate of
technological change driven by our brilliant businesses.
The fund will support projects that allow the UK’s
regulatory environment to keep pace with technological
advances of the future, such as robot guide dogs and 3D
printed food.
If the UK’s regulatory approach is not kept up to date,
businesses may face unnecessary obstacles in bringing
forward new innovations, while citizens are left with
outdated protections.
The fund is part of wider government work on regulation.
The Chancellor is chairing a new Better Regulation
Committee at the heart of the government, to drive an
ambitious regulatory reform agenda and ensure the UK’s
regulatory framework is updated to enable this innovation.
The funding will support regulators and local authorities
to test and pilot ambitious and experimental regulatory
approaches that improve their ability to support innovation
and innovators.
This is the second round of the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund,
and previous winning projects include:
- approximately £700,000 for the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency to develop synthetic datasets.
These datasets will support the development of cutting-edge
medical technologies to fight coronavirus (COVID-19) and
cardiovascular disease
- up to £1 million for the Civil Aviation Authority to
support a project that includes a “regulatory lab” that
will bring together relevant bodies to unblock legislative
and regulatory barriers to innovations like flying taxis
The competition is now live and receiving applications
until 15 July 2021. Read further details
about the competition.
