UK Government opens £12m Regulators’ Pioneer Fund for applications

Published by

Stephen Emerson

Hand holding drawing virtual lightbulb with brain on bokeh background for creative and smart thinking idea concep

The UK Government has opened a new £12 million fund to support regulators innovate and establish the UK as a world-leader in the technologies of the future.

The Regulators’ Pioneer Fund will enable regulators and local authorities to test and experiment with bold and ambitious regulatory approaches to tackle the most pressing issues of the day - from treating disease and delivering vaccines to tackling regional inequality.

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The Fund is open to bids of up to £1m each and will welcome those that prioritise key issues such as the cost of living and levelling up the UK.

Business Minister Lord Callanan: “Regulators and innovation can seem strange bedfellows, but through this fund we’ll make sure they are a match made in heaven.

“By empowering regulators to embrace the most exciting developments in their industry, we’ll pave the way for entrepreneurship that can deliver tangible benefits for the British public.”

The competition is now live and receiving applications until 29 September 2022.

Previous funding rounds have led to significant achievements across a wide range of UK sectors, notably:

Creating a world-first framework for licensing crash-protected containers that drones can use to carry sensitive goods including medical goods like vaccines.

Enabling the Intellectual Property Office to harness Artificial Intelligence to improve the speed with which innovators and organisations can register intellectual property rights (IPR).

Developing standards for gene therapy to prevent or treat disease and improve health for many people in the UK and beyond.

Exploring the use of adaptive AI algorithms in medical devices to protect and improve public health.

Developing a framework to facilitate the use of technology and innovation in the legal sector to address regional inequalities in access to justice.

Creating an interactive tool to help small business owners more easily understand fire safety requirements, reducing risk to life and the environment.

Building an ‘Innovation Hub’ that will bring together relevant bodies to unblock legislative and regulatory barriers to innovations like flying taxis.

Stephen Emerson

Stephen Emerson is the Managing Editor of The Business Magazine and is responsible for the publication's print publications and online properties including the newly launched Biz News websites in Hampshire and Dorset. Stephen has been a journalist for 20 years and has worked at local, regional and national publications and led a team which made The Scotsman website one of the fastest growing news sites in the UK with over eight million monthly users. He has a keen interest in technology, property and corporate finance and telling the stories of the people behind the successful firms in these sectors.