New research from Oxford Brookes Business School provides clear evidence of how open innovation can accelerate this process across regulated sectors.
The report examines the LawTech Open Innovation Lab (LOIL) Challenge, a nine-month programme delivered by SuperTech West Midlands. The programme brought together mid-to-large law firms, LawTech SMEs and the Solicitors Regulation Authority to address shared challenges around client onboarding, KYC and AML compliance.
Focusing on collaboration rather than traditional procurement, the research explores how trusted, challenge-led environments can improve engagement, reduce adoption risk and support co-creation between firms, innovators and regulators. The findings highlight strong participation, high levels of collaboration and greater readiness to adopt new technologies across the sector.
The research was led by Oxford Brookes Business School, with contributions from participating law firms, technology providers and regulators, and offers a model that can be applied across legal and wider professional services.