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Tech Innovations Get Tryout in Regulatory Sandboxes: Jake Morabito in GCN

Regulatory sandboxes allow businesses to bypassing existing government regulations in order to push the boundaries of innovation.

ALEC Communications and Technology Task Force Director Jake Morabito tells Government Computer News (GCN) that states experimenting with regulatory sandboxes (one of ALEC’s Essential Policy Solutions for 2023) allow businesses to innovate without the burden of excessive regulations.

States are experimenting with regulatory sandboxes that enable companies to test technologies that may conflict with state laws.

“The regulatory sandbox is a way that innovators can apply for a temporary waiver to the existing regulations,” said Jake Morabito, director of the Communications and Technology Task Force at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). “That way, they can test out a new technology, such as AI or blockchain or autonomous technologies,” without it being licensed or subject to state regulations.

The sandbox also allows state legislators to learn what regulations inhibit innovation. “We can pave the way for regulatory reform and take harmful regulations off the books,” Morabito said. “In the case of AI, the information gleaned by the state legislators can help inform how regulations should be adopted in the future in a way that does not hurt free market and growing businesses,” he said.

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