Innovation is at the heart of the UK government’s economic and industrial strategy, and indeed the agendas of governments the world over. It is widely recognised that certain emerging technologies will have a huge impact on the futures of individual nations and their relationships, and none wish to be left behind.

But where regulation was once thought to be detrimental to innovation, there is a new consensus that the state – and regulators – have an important and active role to play in driving innovation. If that is true, how then should regulators act? What principles should guide their behaviour?

It is in this context that Challenge Works has revisited Nesta’s notion of anticipatory regulation for 2025. Reflecting on over a decade of collaboration with various UK regulators, and with input from the newly inaugurated Regulatory Innovation Office, we present six, revised, principles that the anticipatory regulator should follow, each illustrated by several case study examples of good practice – and for each, propose an innovative regulatory activity to drive technological development and solve a pressing societal challenge.