Following the news (Wednesday 1 July) that The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and Ofcom have set up the Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum (DRCF) to ensure online services work better for consumers and businesses in the UK;

David Bicknell, Principal Analyst in the Thematic Research Team at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Regulators never move quickly enough to regulate fast-changing markets – they are always playing catch-up on digital developments and, in the UK, an evolving landscape is changing regulators’ roles as EU transition arrangements end and COVID-19 continues to cast a shadow.

“Strengthening collaboration between three regulators that have responsibility for different online services is a good idea, but the forum should go further. For the DRCF to be effective, it must establish its digital regulation credentials by recruiting digital business leaders or influencers to the forum’s executive team. That would help it better anticipate online services developments and, as a result, influence the development of the enforcement tools needed to regulate digital markets more effectively.”