On May 21st, Kate Jones, CEO of the UK’s Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF), delivered a compelling keynote at techUK’s launch event for its Pro-Growth Regulation report. At a time when operational resilience has never been more critical and AI advancement is reshaping industries; her remarks served as both a reaffirmation and a challenge: the UK is not just keeping pace—it’s setting the tone. 

Jones outlined how regulatory clarity, strategic collaboration, and a cross-sectoral approach can foster innovation rather than frustrate it. In a global landscape often characterized by regulatory lag and uncertainty, the DRCF’s model—bringing together the UK’s financial, communications, data, and competition regulators—offers a concrete blueprint for harmonized, innovation-friendly oversight. 

This moment offers an opportunity to look closer at how the UK’s regulatory vision is evolving, and why it matters not just for policy—but for product, operations, and resilience across industries. 

At the heart of the DRCF’s strategy is a recognition that innovation doesn’t wait for regulation to catch up—and that regulators must meet innovators where they are. One of the DRCF’s most ambitious and practical initiatives is the AI & Digital Hub, a joint effort by the FCA, Ofcom, ICO, and CMA to provide early-stage guidance to companies navigating complex regulatory terrain. 

The Hub serves as a collaborative space where real questions from real innovators are addressed directly by the relevant regulators. It provides a structured yet flexible environment for discussing emerging technologies—from AI-enabled services to operational risk platforms—long before they hit scale or encounter friction in deployment. 

The value of this initiative is reenforced by the Hub’s published case studies, which anonymize real submissions from participating tech firms. These examples help clarify how UK regulation applies to novel business models and technologies, offering a practical guide for others developing digital tools. In doing so, the Hub doesn’t just answer individual questions—it scales clarity, fosters confidence, and reduces regulatory guesswork for the wider market. 

Recognizing both the ambition and the practical value of the DRCF’s collaborative model, BugZero was among the earliest participants to submit a cross-agency query in 2024. We saw in their vision a rare opportunity—not just to interpret emerging regulatory expectations, but to contribute a point of view on how operational risk from third-party software defects would be understood across sectors. 

That engagement resulted in the publication of one of the DRCF’s earliest case studies, “Managing the Impact of Software Defects on Resilience”—the second entry in what has since become a growing library of cross-sector guidance for digital innovators. 

The case study explored whether operational risks caused by non-security third-party software flaws should be treated with the same rigor as cybersecurity vulnerabilities.  

Read the case study here: Managing the Impact of Software Defects on Resilience – DRCF AI & Digital Hub Case Study #2 (PDF) 

The UK’s regulatory approach, as embodied by the DRCF, is increasingly seen as a model for others to follow. While many governments and agencies are still grappling with how to balance innovation with oversight, the DRCF is actively demonstrating what coordinated, principle-driven regulation looks like in practice. 

Unlike siloed approaches that treat data protection, financial oversight, consumer protection, and digital infrastructure as separate concerns, the DRCF integrates all four through its member agencies: the FCA, ICO, CMA, and Ofcom. This allows them to address the reality of today’s digital economy—where one software flaw can cascade across sectors, jurisdictions, and regulatory domains. 

As Kate Jones noted in her remarks, this integrated approach is supported by: 

• A shared three-year vision to both protect people online and support UK innovation. 

• Joint projects like the AI & Digital Hub and horizon scanning efforts on agentic AI, cybersecurity, and smart data. 

• Ongoing efforts to reach not just major institutions but also smaller firms that often lack the resources to navigate fragmented regulatory systems. 

In short, while many countries are still debating what the right balance looks like, the UK is quietly building it. 

As noted earlier, our engagement with the DRCF resulted in the publication of one of their earliest case studies, Managing the Impact of Software Defects on Resilience. While the content of that case study was eye-opening—bringing together four regulatory agencies to address a risk that crosses industry and operational boundaries—it was, by design, high-level and cross-cutting. 

That scope was a strength, but it also left something important to be done: helping organizations translate the implications into their own industry-specific contexts. That’s why we are publishing a new series of companion whitepapers, each tailored to a particular sector. These documents are designed to bridge the gap between regulatory vision and operational strategy, offering targeted guidance to help firms act on the insights embedded in the DRCF’s work. 

The first in this series—Financial Services in the Crosshairs—is available now.

This white paper takes a deep dive into the mounting regulatory pressure financial institutions face to manage non-security third-party software risks as a core part of their operational resilience programs. It covers: 

• How global regulations like DORA, FCA SYSC 15A, and FFIEC are converging on operational IT risks. 

• Why traditional cybersecurity models are no longer sufficient on their own. 

• How financial institutions can gain strategic advantage by integrating automated defect monitoring into IT Operations. 

Download the white paper: Financial Services in the Crosshairs 

While financial services may be among the most tightly regulated sectors, they’re far from alone in facing the growing challenge of third-party software risk. The same operational vulnerabilities that concern banks and insurers also affect telecommunications providers, healthcare networks, manufacturers, and managed service providers—each with their own unique risk landscape and regulatory pressures.  

We’ll be releasing additional white papers tailored to other high-impact industries.  

If you’d like to dig deeper into the operational risk and regulatory oversight of non-security vendor defects will impact your industry and your operations, https://www.findbugzero.com/.