Insider Brief
- The UK government awarded £8.9 million to 16 projects through the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) to cut outdated red tape and speed new technologies—such as drones, AI tools, and robotics—from lab to market.
- The funding supports pilots including AI risk-assessment apps for London Fire Brigade, street-sweeping robots in Milton Keynes, and expanded medical drone and space-regulation initiatives projected to unlock multibillion-pound markets by 2030.
- Chaired by Lord Willetts, RIO coordinates regulators, industry, and innovators to streamline approvals, with new partnerships and initiatives—such as an AI hackathon with IBM—aimed at building a pro-innovation regulatory environment across sectors.
The UK government is cutting regulatory barriers to get new technologies into service faster, pairing a £8.9 million package for 16 projects with a broader push to modernise oversight through the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO). The effort targets real-world deployments—from medical-supply drones serving island communities to AI tools that help regulators and clinicians approve therapies sooner, according to the UK government.
“Every day across the country new products are being invented that have the potential to transform lives and revolutionise public services,” Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said in the announcement. “But all too often, we are held back from taking advantage of them by red tape that simply hasn’t kept pace with the scientific and technological advances.”
Funding administered by RIO will support pilots such as an AI smartphone app used by London Fire Brigade for property risk assessments and a Milton Keynes trial of street-sweeping robots. The aim is better public services and a clearer path for British firms to commercialise innovations under rules designed for rapid but safe adoption.
The initiative builds on RIO’s first-year programme, which has backed reforms now feeding through to the economy. One example cited is a £23 million National Grid contract for drone power-line inspections enabled by updated regulation. A new report notes faster risk assessments for drones—a sector the government values at up to £45 billion by 2030—and extended hospital trials of a blood-delivery service at Guy’s and St Thomas’. In space, work on missions such as satellite life-extension, inspection and debris removal is intended to unlock a market the report estimates at £2.7 billion by 2031.
RIO, chaired by Lord Willetts, coordinates regulators, funds novel approaches and engages directly with firms to accelerate safe deployment. Next steps include a direct route for innovators in priority areas, partnerships with industry groups such as CBI, TechUK and the Start Up Coalition to surface regulatory issues earlier, and an AI “hackathon” with IBM in spring 2026. Future priorities focus on healthcare, including streamlining oversight for novel biotherapeutics and using AI to speed clinical-trial approvals, the government noted.
The fourth round of the Regulators’ Pioneer Fund underwrites the 16 projects and provides tailored support to regulators trialling new ways of working. An independent evaluation by the National Centre for Social Research found earlier rounds enabled trials that would not otherwise have happened and strengthened regulator-industry collaboration, laying groundwork for more responsive, pro-innovation rulemaking, the government said.
