On the Issue of Special Legal Regimes in the Digital Economy (“Regulatory Sandboxes”)

Abstract

Regulatory tools created before digital technology do not make it possible to manage change efficiently. The article presents the results of research on the creation and functioning of special legal regimes for the digital economy conditions — “regulatory sandboxes”. The basic elements of the digital economy regulation system and the concept of “smart regulation” are described, the goals of creating special (experimental) regimes and principles of their application are formulated in the article. It is concluded that regulatory decision-making procedures should cover the entire cycle of the rule-making process and the choice of efficiency criteria is the “cornerstone” here. For the successful implementation of this initiative, it is necessary to develop a methodology for evaluation the effectiveness of regulatory decisions with anchoring the relevant criteria and efficiency indicators; to ensure the integration of the regulatory sandbox mechanism with strategic planning and technological forecasting, expand the range of mechanisms for engaging businesses, civil society and the expert community in the regulatory system of the digital economy.