About us
The Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC) is an independent expert committee that identifies the implications of technological innovation, and provide government with impartial, expert advice on the regulatory reform required to support its rapid and safe introduction.
Background
In its white paper on Regulation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the government committed to establishing a Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC) to identify the implications of technological innovation with high potential benefit for the UK economy and society, and advise the government on regulatory reform needed to support its rapid and safe introduction. The RHC is an expert committee sponsored and supported by a team of civil servants within the Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
The Council:
- scans the horizon for technological innovation and trends, building on existing work and data across departments and regulators
- prioritises products, services and business models with high potential benefit for the UK economy and society
- identifies broad areas of regulatory reform needed in order to facilitate the rapid and safe introduction of these products, services and business models
- makes recommendations to government on broad priorities for regulatory reform, based on the potential benefit for the UK economy and society while protecting citizens and the environment
- monitors the government’s progress in delivering reforms that the Council has recommended and evaluating the impact of its recommendations
The RHC’s definition of regulation and governance includes standards, policies, best practices, codes of conduct, and procedures – extending beyond legislation. Regulatory reform refers to all activities relating to the reform of regulation, including consulting, trialling, introduction, implementation and evaluation of legislation, rules and guidance by policymakers and regulators.
Membership
Professor Christopher Hodges OBE (Chair)
Professor Christopher Hodges OBE is Emeritus Professor of Justice Systems at the University of Oxford and a Supernumerary Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford. He is an internationally recognised expert in regulatory systems and dispute resolution systems.
He was appointed Chair of the RHC in 2022. He has advised numerous governments, regulators and businesses on regulatory design and delivery issues. He is co-founder of the International Network for Delivery of Regulation and has recently become a Director of the international Institute for Regulatory Delivery, Innovation and Effectiveness. He has published several books on regulation, including Law and Corporate Behaviour (2015), Ethical Business Practice and Regulation (with Ruth Steinholtz, 2017), Regulatory Delivery (with Graham Russell, 2019), and Outcome-Based Cooperation (2022).
In dispute resolution systems, he has contributed particularly to reform of court and consumer Ombudsmen systems. He has played a leading national role as Chair of DBT’s Post Office Horizon Compensation Advisory Board. He also chairs the Housing and Property Redress Group and is a member of the Commonhold Council (DLUHC). After 25 years as a City of London lawyer before he became an academic, he has chaired the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, regulatory committees of the European and UK medical technology industry associations, and Bampton Classical Opera. He has been a member of the Advisory Board of The Internet Commission, and of the Rail Ombudsman’s Liaison Panel.
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Professor Alastair Denniston
Professor Alastair Denniston is an expert in AI health technologies. He leads a University/NHS research and policy group working with regulators, industry, and policymakers to address the barriers to innovation and implementation of these technologies into the NHS. He is also a front-line NHS clinician (ophthalmologist) at University Hospitals Birmingham and supports the NHS at both local and national level in the safe and efficient evaluation, implementation, and on-going monitoring of these technologies. Key outputs include the world’s first systematic analysis of AI diagnostics to assess performance, creating the international guidelines for trials of AI health tech and creating the standards for data diversity and inclusion to tackle bias in AI.
He works with regulators and policy-bodies from around the world including MHRA, NICE, FDA, TGA (Australia). He is AI Theme Lead for the Birmingham Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation, Regional Director of HDRUK and Vice-Chair to the AI Evaluation Group for the WHO.
Dr Andy Greenfield
Dr Andy Greenfield is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford. Most of his career has been spent in scientific research – he led a programme of research at the Medical Research Council’s Harwell Institute for over 25 years. His expertise lies in genetics and genetic technologies, especially in the areas of reproductive biology and assisted reproductive technologies.
From 2009 to 2018, he was a board member of the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA), the statutory UK regulator of IVF and human embryo research, where he chaired two expert panels that assessed the safety and efficacy of mitochondrial donation (so-called ‘3-person IVF’). Andy also brings expertise more broadly in ethical innovation, policy, and governance as a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics from 2014 to 2020. He was appointed to the Board of the Human Tissue Authority in April 2022 and from July 2022 has chaired the Products of Genetic Technologies subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP), a scientific advisory committee of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Andy is an invited member of a Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ working group examining ethical and regulatory issues arising from human embryo model research.
Dr Graeme Malcolm OBE
Dr Graeme Malcom is CEO and founder of M Squared, a leading developer of photonic and quantum technologies. He oversees the development of a range of world-class laser, photonic and quantum systems, which are critical enablers in fundamental physics research, underpinning many world firsts. He is also instrumental in driving forward a range of new applications in quantum technology, biophotonics and chemical sensing with the aim of improving the lives of future generations.
He is Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of The Royal Society Edinburgh, Fellow of the Institute of Physics and visiting Professor and Entrepreneur in Residence at the Institute of Photonics at the University of Strathclyde. He was awarded an OBE for his services to Science and Innovation in the 2015 New Year Honours list and The Swan Medal from the Institute of Physics. He also won the title Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2018 Great British Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
Professor Lucy Mason
Professor Lucy Mason FRSA is a Director at Capgemini Invent leading on emerging technologies and innovation, especially in the defence, space, and security sectors. She is the founder and former Head of the Government’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) which finds and funds innovation to create novel defence and security capabilities. Her interests include the threats and opportunities posed by AI and machine learning, the internet of things, quantum technologies, futures thinking, and the implications of technologies for people and society. Lucy is passionate about bringing industry, academia, and Government together in multidisciplinary teams to better solve major social challenges.
She is a visiting Professor at Cranfield University, Chair of the Governance Board for the Security of Digital Technology at the Periphery (SDTaP) programme (formerly PETRAS), and Chair of the SPRITE+ Advisory Board. She is a member of the Advisory Boards for the Common Mission Project and CREST Research. Lucy was a former civil servant between 2009 – 2019. She has a doctorate in archaeological science.
Professor Joyce Tait
Professor Joyce Tait is Professor and Director at the Innogen Institute and a member of staff in the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems (GAAFS), University of Edinburgh. She has an interdisciplinary background, covering both natural and social sciences specialising in innovation-governance-stakeholder interactions in innovative technology areas.
She was awarded a CBE for services to the social sciences in 2005 and an honorary doctorate of the Open University in 2009 and she is also Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Current appointments include membership of the UK Biosecurity Leadership Council and the OECD Global Forum on Technology: Synthetic Biology Expert Focus Group.
Register of interests
Charter
Meeting reports and minutes
Reports, research and other publications
Horizon scanning - December 2020
The RHC conducted a horizon scan to capture a large selection of pan-economy innovations likely to come to market over the next ten years. This generated raw data of 542 emerging innovations, that were then prioritised.
The prioritisation of future innovations describes an evidence-based approach to prioritising these areas of emerging innovations.