Business Secretary, Greg Clark, has awarded £10 million to UK regulators to help drive forward innovation in the public sector and help it seize long-term opportunities including the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the future of mobility.
The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund is funding 15 unique projects that will unlock the economic opportunities identified in the government’s modern Industrial Strategy.
Winning projects include:
- Nearly £700,000 to regulator Ofcom for a project that uses Blockchain technology to improve UK telephone number management
- Nearly £700,000 for the Solicitors Regulation Authority to support business innovations that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform the legal services market for small businesses and consumers
- 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
Business Secretary, Greg Clark, commented: “The UK’s regulatory environment is recognised as being among the best in the world and through our modern Industrial Strategy we are building a business environment in which Britain’s dreamers, developers and disrupters can continue to thrive.
“These projects will further strengthen our regulatory system and ensure that it keeps pace with the innovation and technological advances needed to power our economy now and in the future.”
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) project, Data-Driven Innovation in Legal Services, in partnership with Nesta’s Challenge Prize Centre, will seek out and accelerate ethical AI-powered business innovations that support their regulatory objectives. The focus will be on growing the large underdeveloped legal services market for small businesses and consumers, where AI and automation can have a transformative impact.
