The pandemic has proven how important innovation is to staying safe and living our lives during a difficult time. However, innovation is also important to a state’s economic health. Regulatory sandboxes are policies that can jumpstart innovation and encourage job growth and opportunities in Louisiana.

Regulatory sandboxes are an alternative regulatory framework for businesses that have products or business models that don’t fall under current regulations. Sandboxes can apply to many different industries and have been introduced both around the nation and the globe.

Sandboxes have been implemented in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Singapore as well as states like Utah, Florida, and Wyoming.  Studies in the United Kingdom, the country with the oldest sandbox policies, have shown how successful sandboxes are at helping start-ups.  Companies that start in sandboxes are 50 percent more likely to raise money, raise 15 percent more funding, and get to market 40 percent faster. Even more impressive, 80 percent of companies that started in the United Kingdom Sandbox are still around today.

To encourage innovation, Louisiana needs to embrace sandboxes both in industries like financial technology and insurance, as well as a general purposes sandbox, which has recently been implemented in Utah.

You can learn more about sandboxes from checking out our one pager here.