Regulatory Horizon Scanning

Definition

Regulatory Horizon Scanning is the systematic design and evaluation of regulatory horizon scanning within the mapping, adoption and operationalisation of standards, laws, certification and regulatory expectations.

Why this matters

Weak regulatory horizon scanning can lead to unsafe deployment, unlawful or unauthorised action, wasted public resources, loss of rights, poor accountability and declining institutional trust.

Research questions

Which controls, evidence and institutional arrangements make regulatory horizon scanning effective in practice, and how do outcomes vary by sector, system risk, organisational maturity and operating context?

Hypotheses

An explicit, testable and continuously evidenced approach to regulatory horizon scanning, with clear ownership, independent review, runtime telemetry and recovery, will outperform policy-only or periodic compliance approaches.

Proposed methods

regulatory mapping; standards crosswalk; gap assessment; conformity testing; legal analysis; horizon scanning; stakeholder interviews; document and control review; fault and incident simulation; longitudinal implementation assessment; methods adapted specifically to Regulatory Horizon Scanning

Stakeholders and beneficiaries

citizens; public servants; executives; boards; regulators; auditors; legal and risk teams; technology teams; service users; civil society; suppliers