Lords committee calls for greater digital regulation

The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee said that systems currently in place were neither rigorous nor accountable enough to address current regulatory gaps, and that better processes are needed to deal with emerging challenges, such as artificial intelligence (AI).

The committee added that regulators, industry and experts in other fields needed to work together on addressing the challenges of regulation and oversight for new technology.

A Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum (DRCF) has been set up to enable greater cooperation across industry, but the committee said that a lack of overarching coordination and oversight of regulatory objectives remains.

The Lords committee also said it was concerned the DRCF lacked robust systems to coordinate objectives and handle conflicts between different regulators.

An independent chair of the DRCF should be appointed, the committee said, who would also be accountable to parliament.
A new committee of MPs and peers should also be created, the committee said.

Lord Gilbert, chair of the committee, said: “Persistent challenges remain that the regulatory system is insufficiently equipped to confront.

“We are concerned that not all regulators with digital interests and expertise have a seat at the table.

“Sharing information between regulators, advisory bodies, government, industry and experts needs to be enhanced to avoid duplication and ensure that the greatest range of perspectives feed into regulation.”