The UK government has launched a £12 million 'regulators and pioneers' fund to unlock innovation across the country and tackle pressing issues such as the cost of living and regional inequality.
Regulators and local authorities are able to tap into the fund to create initiatives that support entrepreneurs in the building and deploying of new products and services, which in turn will open up more job opportunities and stimulate economic growth.
With innovation-friendly regulation, the government hopes to boost its plans to become a global science and technology superpower. It wants to do this by bringing together the regulatory bodies with the technologists so that the latter will have a better chance of keeping pace with cutting-edge innovation.
Each successfully pitched project will receive £1 million from the fund, with the government particularly keen to hear initiatives that are aimed at tackling the cost of living, aiding the transition to net zero or that support its levelling up agenda.
The government hasn't explicitly said what types of technology it expects to harness with the funding, although it did cite examples from previous funding rounds, such as drone delivery schemes for vaccines. It added that those funding rounds have led to "significant achievements" across a number of sectors.
RELATED RESOURCE
The challenge of securing the remote working employee
The IT Pro Guide to Sase and successful digital transformation
The examples listed also include crash-protected containers for delivery drones, adaptive algorithms for medical devices, frameworks for the use of technology in the legal sector, and the creation of innovation hubs that unblock legislative and regulatory barriers to innovations "like flying taxis".
Applicants have until 29 September 2022 to send in their proposals.
-
Asus ZenScreen Fold OLED MQ17QH reviewReviews A stunning foldable 17.3in OLED display – but it's too expensive to be anything more than a thrilling tech demo
-
How the UK MoJ achieved secure networks for prisons and offices with Palo Alto NetworksCase study Adopting zero trust is a necessity when your own users are trying to launch cyber attacks
-
Welsh startups 'increasingly isolated' over lack of diverse funding routesNews Founders say Wales' chance to be one of the UK's leading tech ecosystems is being undermined by a lack of investment
-
What is WCAG and how do these guidelines power accessibility online?In-depth Experts urge a mentality shift, away from box-ticking compliance, to one that incorporates ease of use into the very fabric of web design
-
Diversity in tech is a well-trodden path, but change is painfully slowOpinion IT leaders have a big role to play in changing attitudes to diversity and inclusion, but not all of them step up to the challenge
-
Two in three IT employers struggle to recruit staff with adequate digital skillsNews Three quarters (77%) of surveyed senior UK IT decision-makers claimed that they are currently facing a digital skills gap in their organisation
-
Primary schools to receive BBC micro:bits in digital literacy pushNews The initiative comes amid an "all-time high" shortage of talent in cyber security, big data analytics and technical architects
-
Lenovo to give £1 from every laptop sale to UK digital poverty charitiesNews Tech giant to support local authorities and charities with hardware and expertise
-
Disabled IT professionals are building access for themselvesIn-depth For visually impaired developers, the tools just aren’t good enough – so they’re taking matters into their own hands
-
Australia allocates $6.7 million to advance women in STEM initiativesNews Women make up only 28% of the country's STEM workers
