The Regulatory Frontier: Designing the Rules that Shape Innovation
Technological progress is accelerating, reshaping economies and societies at unprecedented speed. As new opportunities emerge, the frameworks that govern innovation are becoming just as important as the innovations themselves. The Regulatory Frontier explores how regulation is evolving from a set of static rules into a form of modern infrastructure – one that enables trust, supports inclusion and strengthens competitiveness.
Technological progress is accelerating, reshaping economies and societies at unprecedented speed. As new opportunities emerge, the frameworks that govern innovation are becoming just as important as the innovations themselves. The Regulatory Frontier explores how regulation is evolving from a set of static rules into a form of modern infrastructure – one that enables trust, supports inclusion and strengthens competitiveness.
Developed by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the General Secretariat of the Cabinet of the United Arab Emirates and Boston Consulting Group, the white paper presents a practical framework for building future-ready regulatory systems. It highlights global examples (from Brazil’s Pix and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to the United Arab Emirates’s regulatory sandboxes and collaborative models across Africa) that show how forward-looking governance can unlock growth and societal benefit.
The paper marks a foundational step in the Global Regulatory Innovation Platform (GRIP), offering insights, tools and pathways to help countries design the rulebooks of tomorrow.