Government cuts red tape to revolutionise public services with cutting-edge tech

The government has announced it is slashing the red tape that holds back groundbreaking innovations from coming to market.

From drones delivering medical supplies in the Scottish islands, to AI tools that are helping get new medicines safely approved for use sooner, as the government has announced it is slashing the red tape that holds back groundbreaking innovations from coming to market.

The government is providing an £8.9 million boost, following the Regional Investment Summit, for 16 projects to cut through out-dated red tape so that the UK’s innovators can get new technologies out of the lab and into use sooner.  

The funding, being delivered through the Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO), will also support efforts like an AI smartphone app, that’s helping London Fire Brigade to risk-assess homes and businesses. It’s also helping local authorities deliver value for money - like in Milton Keynes where street-sweeping robots will be trialled.

These are tools that will support better public services and offer huge opportunities for innovative British businesses to trade and grow – supported by a regulatory environment that enables innovation. The RIO is the government’s dedicated team established to reduce the burden for innovative businesses, and over the last 12 months has supported reforms that are boosting the economy, right now. In one case a company secured a £23 million contract with the National Grid, to inspect power lines with drones, that was only made possible thanks to regulatory changes which enabled that work.