Agile Nations Work Programme plan 2020 to 2021

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Introduction

The Agile Nations is an intergovernmental regulatory cooperation network made up of 7 founding Nations:

  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Italy
  • Singapore
  • Japan
  • United Arab Emirates (UAE)
  • UK

It is born out of the mutual recognition by member countries of the importance of agile governance in harnessing the potential of innovation in an increasingly challenging global context. Launched in November 2020, the network focuses on practical collaboration to share learning and explore new ways to support businesses to introduce and scale innovations across different markets.

In its first year, the network has already 10 developed projects across six priority workstreams that sit at the heart of technological advancements: pro-innovation approaches to regulation; data and communications; green tech; medical devices and treatments; mobility; and professional business services.

This document sets out the 10 proposals that make up the work programme for the first year of the Agile Nations.

Summary and timelines

The work programme for 2021 began in March, following a call for evidence from the network that asked for high-level proposals for projects. We have followed a flexible model for participation where interested parties could work together to achieve shared goals.

Over the summer, working groups formed and consulted external stakeholders including businesses; government departments; regulators and academia, to refine these proposals and ensure their viability ahead of inclusion in the work programme.

Final implementation plans were submitted to the Agile Nations Secretariat in Autumn covering the project objectives, implementation schedule, and project deliverables. This completed the final stage of review.

The work programme was approved on the 20 October 2021 at the Agile Nations Ministerial Council (which comprises of Ministers of State from all 7 nations, or their delegated representatives, and senior officials from the OECD and the WEF, in their capacity as observers). These projects will continue for the remainder of the year, or until they reach completion.

The programme will deliver a diverse range of tangible benefits, including:

  • enhancing the safe usage of treated wastewater in agricultural and food production in Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA)
  • improving the flow of cargo in supply chains by developing an international coordinated and harmonized approach to Pre-loading advance cargo information (PLACI)
  • an ‘Agile Governance Guidebook’ providing a guide to the theoretical framework to the practice of innovation governance

List of proposals

The following 10 projects will be taken forward by the network and have been grouped against the 6 workstreams.

Pro-innovation Approaches to Regulation

1) Standards – a project on coordinating the National Standards Bodies of the Agile Nations.

2) Experimental approaches, for example sandboxes - fostering knowledge sharing and collaboration on experimental regulation tools and paving the way for cross countries joint regulatory activities.

3) Anticipatory Regulation – the development of Pro-Innovation Principles for Regulation and an exploration of regulatory ‘deep dives’ on emerging technologies.

4) Agile Governance Guidebook – the development of a text to provide practical steps for businesses to implement agile governance.

Data and Communications

5) Digital Credentials – the development of joint proofs of concepts and/or pilots for digital credential use cases, alongside a series of technical and policy workshops.

6) Consumer Connected Products - the development of common principles and the promotion of international standards.

Mobility

7) Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting - the development of an international coordinated and harmonized approach to Pre-loading advance cargo information (PLACI) to enhance the flow of cargo in supply chains.

Green Tech

8) Agri-Tech – the development of policy on the utilisation of the treated sewage effluent (TSE) and biosolids in the controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

Medical Devices and Treatments

9) Digital Health Software Devices – a project exploring the development of an information/work sharing process for suitable Digital Health Software and Medical Devices.

Professional Services

10) LawTech Sandbox/Portal – an exploration into the advancement of areas of Lawtech including ethical standards, access to justice and consumer protection, competition and a sustainable global market in legal services through innovation in legal services.

Work Programme 2021 to 2022

1. Coordinating National Standards Bodies of the Agile Nations

This is a multilateral project between Canada, the UK and Denmark.

The goal of this project is to promote coordination between the national standards bodies (NSBs) of the participating members of working group. This goal aligns with Clause 10 of the Agile Nations Charter, which states: “The Participants may […] promote co-operation with and among national standards bodies and similar actors.”

Under this goal, there are 3 objectives:  

  • Objective 1: Awareness: promote awareness for the Agile Nations Charter and Workplan amongst NSBs
  • Objective 2: Inventory: create an inventory of initiatives under the Agile Nations Charter Workplan that can be supported by standardization resources
  • Objective 3: Linkages: broker interaction between NSBs and Agile Nations Charter participants to share best practices at a national level and identify collaborative opportunities in support of international standards development where mutual support is feasible

The project will deliver an inventory of initiatives under the Agile Nations Workplan that can be supported by standardisation resources. This inventory will be used to promote coordination and mutual support between regulators and standards bodies.

The outcome will be a use of the standardisation system, which offers consensus standards and compliance assessment mechanisms that can be integrated into harmonized and agile regulatory systems. Standardization can help the Agile Nations achieve its objectives, while the Agile Nations may be able to help advance existing or new standardization objectives.

The project will run from October 2021 to July 2022.

2. Experimental approaches

This is a multilateral project between Canada, the UK, Denmark, Italy and the UAE, and observed by Bahrain, Singapore, Finland, and WEF.

The members of the Experimental Approaches working group are setting out to map and explore current and upcoming initiatives within the Agile Nations which allow start-ups and innovative business to test, develop and launch new technologies and business models.

Specifically, the working group aims at facilitating increased cross border knowledge sharing on lessons learned and best practices when setting up and running regulatory sandboxes, as well as experiences with other initiatives aimed at improving regulatory framework conditions for innovation. In fall/winter, 2021 the working group will conduct a survey and 1:1 interviews with governmental agencies in the Agile Nations to map current and upcoming initiatives. In spring/summer we will host informal coffee meetings and webinars, engaging governmental agencies, start-ups, and other organisations for dialogue on key issues and areas of interest.

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on tools for agile regulation at the national, regional, and international level, notably with the World Economic Forum and the OECD contributing with analysis of the area. Most recently, the OECD has carried out a survey on Agile regulation on behalf of G20 which shows the wealth of measures undertaken by governments to accommodate innovation-driven disruption while protecting citizens and the environment.

The Experimental Approaches working group aims to contribute to our shared knowledge on tools for agile regulation by gathering qualitative information on the effectiveness and difficulties of different tools, from the point of view of regulators as well as start-ups and innovative businesses.

The project will run from October 2021 to June 2022.

3. Anticipatory Regulation

This is a multilateral project between the UK, Canada, Denmark and observed by Italy, the UAE and WEF.

This working group will explore two components of anticipatory regulation: horizon scanning; and cross cutting principles for regulation.

Horizon Scanning

A key component of putting anticipatory regulation in practice is being able to firstly have a sense of possible forthcoming technological innovations coming down the pipeline but also focusing on innovations where regulation is a key enabler for ensuring that countries can extract value for their economy, society and environment. The Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC) has undertaken a horizon scanning and prioritisation approach and will seek to use the working group as a network of practitioners to test and learn from.

Cross cutting principles

From July 2021, the RHC will be developing a set of Pro-Innovation Principles for Regulation building on previous work, including the OECD principles. The Council will work with regulators, industry, government, and other stakeholders as they see fit, to develop and test these principles, source tangible case studies of pro-innovation regulation in action, and ultimately present this to the UK government. This will not just focus on the ‘what’ but also considering the ‘how’ and ‘who’ in the implementation. Like the horizon scanning, we are keen to test this within this working group as it develops.

The project will seek to conduct desk research and roundtables with UK and working group members to gather evidence, before finalising a report.

The project will run until January 2022 where the final report will be published and accompanying webinars will take place.

4. Agile Governance Guidebook 

This is a multilateral project led by the OECD, sponsored by Japan and supported by the UAE and observed by Bahrain, and WEF.

Innovation governance – aligning governance goals, resourcing, and decision-making to promote innovation – is necessary in almost all fields: online communication, mobility, green tech, biotech, professional services etc. Is there any common approach that can be applied to all different areas of innovation governance?

Building on the draft report Governance innovation version 2: a guide to designing and implementing Agile Governance published in July 2021, the “Agile Governance Guidebook” project sponsored by Japan will seek to apply this theoretical framework to the actual practice of corporate governance. The aim is to help businesses implement innovative technologies and services swiftly while achieving various societal goals (not only specific regulatory goals but also Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, human rights etc.), in a systematically organized way.

The project will deliver one analytical report and one toolkit (the Agile Governance Guidebook). The analytical report will examine the practices by businesses all over the world to manage risks and compliance activities through digital technologies, as well as the government policies to encourage them. The Guidebook will extract key lessons learned from the analytical report and establish some principles for:

  • how each business (especially SMEs) can achieve regulatory goals and other societal goals through digital technologies
  • how the government and communities can help businesses to do so

The drafting of the deliverables will commence in 2022 and the project will aim at the finalisation by summer 2023.

5. Digital Credentials

This is a bilateral project led by Canada supported by the UK and observed by Singapore.

In an increasingly interconnected global world, thriving digital economies are becoming dependent on the interoperability of foundational digital trust technologies. To help build a more interconnected future, countries are coming together to collaborate on interoperable solutions.

Working through the Agile Nations, Canada will lead a series of activities with the United Kingdom to foster interoperable digital credential solutions with Singapore serving as an observer.

This project is divided into two key activities: joint proofs of concept and/or pilots for digital credential use cases; and a joint workshop series for enabling interoperability and mutual support for digital credentials.

The timeline for each joint proof of concept and/or pilot is expected to be between 1 to 2 years, dependent upon the scope and complexity of the use case. The timeline for the joint workshop series is expected to be between 8 to 10 months, with the output being a report of the findings and recommendations.

6. Consumer Connected Products

This is a multilateral project between the UK, Singapore and Canada.

The Internet of Things (IoT) offers huge potential economic and social benefits for both businesses and consumers. While this revolution in connectedness promises huge potential gains, it also presents significant risks to consumers and businesses which require coordinated international action to address. Many network-connected products sold to consumers lack even basic cyber security provisions.

For this type of action to be truly effective, work to improve IoT security cannot be taken forward in domestic isolation. The impact of security flaws in these connected products and services are not confined to domestic boundaries.

The UK, Singapore, and Canada have worked closely through this working group to organise policy roundtables and to deliver a statement of intent that highlights their commitment to working together to protect consumers from insecure connected products.

This project will run until the end of March 2021 by which point the roundtables and statement of intent will have been delivered.

7. Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting

This is a bilateral project between Canada and the UK.

As part of the Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting proposal, the Joint Air Cargo Targeting working group seeks to carry out joint risk assessments and risk referrals for high-risk air cargo. The main objective of this proposal is to enhance the flow of air cargo by maintaining focus on high-risk cargo, use the results of mitigation actions, and share information, where possible, in order to reduce overlapping risk assessment and redundant security actions as well as false positive indicators between national pre-loading advance cargo information (PLACI) programs.
The working group is comprised of the Pre-Load Air Cargo Targeting (PACT) team from Transport Canada and the Pre-load Data Informed Cargo Targeting (PreDICT) team from the United Kingdom.

Key deliverables for this proposal will be the development of a regulatory and operational framework that can complement existing guidelines and promote an international coordinated and harmonized approach to PLACI activities between international programs.

It is expected that this proposal will realise a reduction in risk mitigation actions and requests sent to industry. Specifically, those actions and requests that are redundant between transit aerodromes and international borders. In addition, it is expected that with increased digital awareness and sharing of risk assessment results, data that is sent to mitigate risk for one country can move along the authority and enforcement chain between government authorities much in the same way that cargo moves along the supply chain.

The project is expected to take place between Fall 2021 and conclude in Spring of 2022.

8. Agri-Tech

This is a multilateral project between UAE and the UK, and observed by Bahrain and Singapore.

The UAE faces significant challenges with food production, which is an integral part of food security and is challenged by freshwater scarcity. A game changer that could significantly help the UAE achieve food, water, and energy security is the utilization of treated sewage effluent (TSE) in controlled-environment agriculture (CEA).

The project aims to develop a national policy on utilizing TSE and biosolids in CEA to enhance food and nutrition security in the UAE. The development and application of the UAE national policy on the utilization of TSE and biosolids in CEA will achieve the following objectives:

  • enhance the safe usage of treated wastewater in agricultural and food production in CEA
  • minimize risks of treated wastewater use to public health and the environment
  • maximize the economic benefits of treated wastewater usage in food production in CEA

The outcome of the project will be:

  • improved food and nutrition security in the UAE and marginal regions in the long term
  • improved farmer livelihoods because of economic benefits of using TSE
  • increased healthy and safe food production by using consolidated standards and guidelines specifically for TSE use in the CEA
  • reduced pollution risk to the environment

International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) will implement the project in collaboration with the following partners: International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

The project will be implemented within one year, from the end of August 2021 to the end of July 2022.

9. Digital Health Software Devices

This is a multilateral project between Singapore, the UK and Canada.

As digital health technology becomes increasingly adopted to meet evolving clinical needs, this will lead to higher influx of premarket submission for digital health medical devices where it will require appropriate governance, while still not impeding patient access to such innovative devices at the same time. In addressing this emerging area of interest, the workgroup which comprises of the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) of Singapore, Health Canada and UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), plans to collaborate in various areas (e.g. information-sharing and work sharing processes) in relation to Digital Health Software Medical Devices.

The workgroup’s aim is as follows:

  • to explore various collaboration such as development of information-sharing and work sharing processes to facilitate timely access of innovative digital health devices to multiple markets and potentially obtaining approval at the same timeframe in the involved jurisdictions
  • to allow better leveraging on each agency’s expertise and experience to enhance evaluation quality, while minimizing work duplication for the review of the same device
  • to explore co-development of common regulatory approach and review considerations for specific aspects such as machine learning, digital therapeutics, cybersecurity and etc

The project will run from October 2021. The project conclusion will be decided once project deliverables have been confirmed.

10. LawTech Sandbox/Portal 

This is a multilateral project led by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), with support from legal organisations in Canada and the UAE as members, along with Singapore and other legal jurisdictions as observers.

Agile Nations Lawtech Innovation Network (ANLIN) is a collaborative knowledge sharing initiative aimed at advancing areas including lawtech ethical standards, access to justice, consumer protection and competition. It supports a sustainable global market in legal services through innovative legal services, by sharing experiences, working jointly on lessons learned, helping innovators navigate regulation across borders and facilitating responsible cross-border experimentation of new ideas.

The group has identified three key drivers for the working group’s activities in order to build international collaboration and gain a shared understanding of the impact of lawtech:

  • Collaboration – the production a set of high-level principles to be agreed by participants as a common platform to respond to innovators making contact from other jurisdictions
  • Communication – the sharing of the benefits of using legal tech based on the experience of the leading lawtech jurisdictions through a series of case studies that other nations can use
  • Consumer-focused – highlighting the ethical considerations and data protocols in place to ensure the protection of client data across the jurisdictions when legal technology is being used.

This project will show that lawtech offers positive developments globally for both legal professionals and for legal services users, helping to improve efficiency, overcome access to justice barriers and reduce costs. The project will also highlight the common themes and questions lawtech raises and the distinctions highlighted by different legal systems and international approaches in legal services provision.

The project will run from October 2021 to March 2022.

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