Britain can become a global leader in bringing innovative technologies to market through smarter regulation that balances safety with economic opportunity, according to a new report by Lord David Willetts, chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO).

In his first major policy paper since taking up the role in March 2025, the former universities and science minister sets out how a new approach to regulation can unlock innovation and drive the economic growth Britain needs.

The report, published by the Policy Institute at King's College London, builds on the government's Regulatory Action Plan launched in March 2025, which committed to positioning the UK as the best place in the world to commercialise technologies and innovation.

Drawing on his experience at the RIO, Willetts identifies several critical challenges to be overcome:

• Regulatory fragmentation: Companies developing new technologies often don't know which regulator to approach, facing a confusing landscape of multiple agencies.
• Excessive caution on risk: Regulators focus on potential risks narrowly defined while struggling to assess wider benefits to society including reductions of risk in other areas.
• Slow approval processes: Sequential assessments by different regulators mean innovations can take years to reach market.
• Outdated legislation: Some regulations, such as the 1835 Highways Act, create legal uncertainty for modern technologies like delivery robots.

Willetts highlights significant progress already achieved through the RIO's work with regulators in its first year, with the Civil Aviation Authority giving its first permanent approval for a drone service operating beyond visual line of sight and AI being used in healthcare to develop actionable radiology reports. Approval timelines for novel foods have also been accelerated without watering down high standards of food safety.

However, Willetts argues much more needs to be done, with the report identifying opportunities to accelerate progress, building on foundations already in place. For example, he says Britain's departure from the EU has created space for more flexible regulatory approaches, such as the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023, which goes beyond what the EU permitted.

Willetts also points to lessons from the successful Covid vaccine rollout, when government, regulators and businesses worked together at extraordinary speed to deliver results without needing much legislative change. The report argues this approach can be applied more widely to other technologies where the benefits clearly outweigh the risks.

Drawing on his work with regulators, Willetts identifies several opportunities to enhance the UK's competitive position:

• Bringing regulators together through networks like the Digital Regulator Co-operation Forum, which the RIO has supported with £800,000 to create a digital library to make rules easier to find, interpret and navigate for businesses.
• Moving from sequential to simultaneous assessment, allowing multiple regulators to work in parallel rather than forcing companies through slow, step-by-step processes that can cost start-ups a year's revenues.
• Using AI to improve regulation: while there has been much debate about the regulation of AI, there has been little attention given to AI for regulation, with the technology holding the potential to make the body of regulatory guidance and decisions more accessible. An RIO-funded hackathon with IBM will identify practical ways forward, Willetts says.
• Creating a smoother path from lab to market by better connecting regulatory approval with earlier stages like standards-setting and later decisions on public procurement. The report argues that when technologies receive regulatory approval, this should give government departments greater confidence to procure them, while earlier investment in setting clear standards can speed up the entire innovation journey.
• Learning from international best practice through regulatory "sandboxes" and adaptive approaches that adjust as evidence comes in. The paper highlights how the US has expanded adaptive approvals in health and digital sectors, Singapore has pioneered regulatory sandboxes in financial services, and Australia has used mission-based approaches to coordinate regulators around national goals.

He says many government departments currently work on the basis that regulators need to be almost completely autonomous, but it is legitimate for democratically accountable ministers and parliamentarians to set and revise the framework for regulators and assess their decisions.

They can, for example, include the value of wider benefits which may not be considered by the regulator as part of their remit. They can also urge regulators to be pro-tech. He argues the culture of regulators is shifting towards welcoming new technologies where the benefits are substantial.

Lord David Willetts, chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office, said:

"It is almost a year since I became chair of RIO. We have been working hard with regulators to tackle regulatory barriers to innovation and new technologies. This personal essay by me shows that real progress has been made but also argues we can do far more. We have strong support from ministers and can do even more to promote the wider benefits of new technologies and boost growth."