In r egulatory sandboxes , companies, research establishments, and administrations jointly test innovations that are not yet taken into consideration in the existing legal framework – such as autonomous vehicles, drones, and ships, but also new telemedicine and public administration solutions. Often, such regulatory sandboxes initially make use of legal exemptions or special licenses and contribute their results to the development of the legal framework.

To make outstanding regulatory sandboxes visible, honor innovative ideas, and encourage people to develop new regulatory sandboxes, the BMWi launched the Regulatory Sandboxes Innovation Prize: Testing Environments for Innovation and Regulation competition at the beginning of December. An independent jury of experts will select the winners, who will be awarded the ‘Regulatory Sandboxes Innovation Prize’ and presented to the public. Companies, administrations, and research establishments have until February 19, 2020 to enter their planned, ongoing, and completed regulatory sandboxes via this link .