A matter of risk management: The effects of the innovation sandboxes on citizens' risk perceptions

The promotion and implementation of government digital transformation inevitably raises problems of how to evaluate the risks and potential effects of these innovations. The regulatory sandbox of digital innovations has emerged in recent years as an emerging government regulatory policy tool. It creates a mechanism in order to liberate innovations tied to the existing regulatory policies within a boundary and manageable public damages. For the purpose of democracy and responsible governance, it is intriguing to know the relationship between the regulatory sandbox mechanism and citizens' perceptions to those new innovative public services. We ask whether the design of the regulatory sandbox effectively improves civil engagement and risk perceptions. This study uses an online survey experiment to conduct a randomized controlled study of 1200 working adults in Taiwan. Our preliminary results find that participants assigned to the sandbox scenarios are more positive to the use of digital innovative public services than those who were not exposed to the sandbox situation. The sandbox treated group is more likely to report lower risk perceptions and is more willing to bear the possible risks of using those digital innovations in the public sector. Findings of this research have important policy implications and recommendations for the many growing government labs or living labs worldwide.