The drive for innovation and legislative development do not usually advance in tandem, although legislation can drive important advances in R&D&I not only by creating future requirements or obligations that force companies to innovate, but also by promoting spaces in which tests can be carried out beyond legislation. These are known as regulatory sandboxes.
Novadays' experience as a consulting firm in innovation policies, transport and mobility policies, industry policies; as well as our knowledge of high-tech sectors has positioned the company as an advisor in the creation of several regulatory sandboxes in Spain.
The first to be officially presented was the regulatory sandbox on mobility promoted by the Madrid City Council. Led by the Directorate General for Innovation, the mobility sandbox of Madrid has the participation of all the areas involved in the City Council and public companies with interests in mobility. The sandbox is materialized in an ordinance, which will soon be submitted for public consultation. The Sandbox will allow all kinds of tests to be carried out in the municipality of Madrid in which autonomous vehicles, new mobility services, integration between energy and transport, etc. will be tested. In short, it will position Madrid as an environment conducive to investment in innovation for any interested company.
In parallel, as part of Novadays' assistance to the Xunta de Galicia, is promoting the creation of a regulatory sandbox at the airfield of Rozas (Lugo), for testing in the field of civil UAS -unmanned aerial vehicles-. This sandbox is another step in the project to transform the airfield into a reference infrastructure in Europe and the epicenter of the aerospace cluster of Galicia, in which Novadays has been collaborating with the Xunta de Galicia since 2015.
The third of the sandboxes being designed by Novadays affects another area -the marine- and is also being carried out together with reference institutions, with the aim of creating a framework to advance R&D&I related to blue growth.