DRCF publishes annual report and work-plan

The DRCF has published its 2024/2025 annual report (here) and 2025/2026 work-plan (here). We briefly summarise its work specific to AI.

The DRCF is the Digital Regulations Co-Operation Forum. It describes itself as:

The DRCF brings together four UK regulators - the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Office of Communications (Ofcom), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - to coordinate their approach to digital regulation for the benefit of both people and businesses online. As a non-statutory forum, we enable member regulators to collaborate on overlapping and shared digital regulation issues. The DRCF’s primary goals are to enhance regulatory coherence, foster collaboration on shared challenges, and build collective expertise for effective regulation.

The report sets out DRCF's work in 2024/2025, including:

• AI and Digital Hub - a pilot multi-agency advice service for innovators, offering them free informal advice from all four member organisation on cross-regulatory queries.  The pilot concluded having assisted 17 organisations and publicising anonymised case studies.
• AI assurance research -  including this report on the emerging AI assurance market.
• AI adoption research - including a report on consumer use of GenAI.
• Horizon scanning, including on synthetic media, digital identity, and quantum computing. 

The work-plan - which is based on a call for input from stakeholders about where the DRCF should focus - sets out its planned activities for 2025/2026. The DRCF's work includes a range of areas including unlocking innovating, smart data, data protection and competition, and protecting people online.  Specifically for AI, the DRCF's anticipated work includes:

• Establish dedicated fora to exchange insights on new AI applications and solutions including synthetic media and deepfakes, agentic systems and assurance, publishing periodic updates.
• Develop our collective understanding of how one another’s regulatory regimes might apply to AI; and work to identify and resolve any points of conflict.
• Build on our research into the third-party auditing market by continuing to share knowledge and insight between regulators on AI auditing through our internal Skill Share group. We will identify opportunities to draw on the knowledge of external experts in this workstream. 
• Hold a roundtable with financial services industry leaders to further develop our understanding of how firms perceive regulatory uncertainty and challenge in respect of AI adoption and wider innovation, and how the ICO and FCA can work together with industry to provide greater regulatory certainty and support growth.

If you would like to discuss how current or future regulations impact what you do with AI, please contact Tom Whittaker, Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, Martin Cook, Liz Smith or any other member in our Technology team.  For the latest on AI law and regulation, see our blog and newsletter.

Seizing these opportunities, and the benefits they can yield for the UK, requires a clear and proportionate regulatory environment – one where businesses have the confidence to invest and innovate, and consumers have the confidence to adopt and engage with new technology. All regulators are currently considering how they can contribute to this environment, while upholding the interests of UK citizens. The challenge is particularly acute in the digital space, where technologies transcend traditional boundaries and remits, increasing complexity and uncertainty. This is where the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) must come in. DRCF Chair and CMA CEO, Sarah Cardell

https://www.drcf.org.uk/siteassets/drcf/pdf-files/drcf-workplan-2025_26.pdf?v=395939