ABSTRACT
Innovation is much like motherhood and apple pie – very few would deny it is a good thing and most would support more of it. Digital connectivity is, arguably, one of the most fertile areas for innovation, with dramatic changes in the way people use broadband and mobile communications over the last two decades. Regulators should be more concerned about removing any barriers to innovation than about stimulating it. Most important of all is the view that regulators are inherently, indeed institutionally, risk-averse. The final element worth discussion is the problems caused by a desire to be evidence-based. Case studies are inherently hard to come by, as they are studies in what did not happen. The innovation czar should provide an annual report on how the regulator has promoted innovation and the cases where innovative ideas had been blocked or delayed.
