New advisory service to launch supporting businesses with AI and digital innovations

A new advisory service is to be piloted from next year to help businesses with AI and digital innovations meet regulatory requirements.

The scheme will bring together regulators from a range of sectors to develop a multi-agency service to offer tailored support for businesses bringing new AI and digital products to market across multiple sectors. The £2 million government-funded service aims to make it easier for businesses to access advice and achieve compliance where new technologies cross-cut the responsibilities of different regulatory bodies.

Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said:

“Digital technology and artificial intelligence are rapidly evolving, and regulation must keep pace – but we don’t want it to be at the expense of stifling the launch of new innovations that can improve our everyday lives.

“While safety is at the heart of our approach to regulation here in the UK, this new service will help businesses navigate the process of making sure they are compliant – supporting safe and responsible innovation.

“We are a nation that backs businesses both big and small, and we want to make sure that as they can quickly get to grips with rules and regulations around emerging technology.”

The service will be run by members of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF), a collaboration of regulators which launched in 2020 to tackle the increasing regulatory issues brought about by new technologies that cross-cut their sectors: the Information Commissioner’s Officer (ICO), Ofcom, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The combined service, known as DRCF AI and Digital Hub, is expected to be trialled for around a year, before an assessment of industry take up, service feasibility and how innovators are interacting with it.  Its launch follows commitments made over government regulation of AI in a Whitepaper earlier this year.