Deadline: 20 February 2019
Applications are open for the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition for identifying regulatory obligations on businesses with funding provided by the GovTech Catalyst.
The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) aims to develop a regulatory system that is simpler for businesses to navigate, while maintaining important protections for citizens and the environment.
The historical and incremental build-up of regulations can lead to disproportionate burdens on business, particularly if obligations are poorly co-ordinated. Digital innovations give policymakers the opportunity, for the first time, to tackle this problem by looking at the UK’s regulatory environment as a whole.
BRE and the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are seeking technological solutions to help analyse the cumulative effect of different regulations on business. For example, they can examine the complexity of regulations, how often they change and the interactions between them. Successful solutions could help the government prioritise future regulatory reform.
The overall programme will be delivered over 2 phases. This is phase 1 of a potential 2-phase competition. A decision to proceed with phase 2 will depend on the outcomes from phase 1.
Phases of Competition
- Phase 1: technical feasibility
- The first phase involves feasibility study research and development (R&D) contracts being awarded up to £50,000, including VAT. This is for each project to demonstrate technical feasibility of the proposed solution.
- Phase 2: prototype development and evaluation
- This second phase involves up to 2 R&D contracts being awarded to businesses chosen from the successful phase 1 applicants. Up to £500,000, including VAT, will be allocated for each contract, in order to develop a prototype and undertake testing for up to 12 months.
Funding Information
- A total of up to £250,000, including VAT, is allocated to phase 1.
Competition is seeking technological solutions which address 3 questions
- How can they analyse the stock of existing regulation and identify which requirements apply to different businesses and sectors?
- How can they assess how challenging individual regulatory requirements are for different businesses and sectors to comply with?
- How can they assess how challenging the cumulative stock of regulation is for different businesses and sectors to comply with?
Eligibility Criteria
To lead a project, applicants can:
- be an organisation of any size
- work alone or with others from business, the research base or charities and public sector organisations as subcontractors
They also welcome applications that bring together a consortium of sector specialists.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply online via given website.
Eligible Country: United Kingdom
For further information, please visit https://bit.ly/2CSIYgL