Please Note: This event took place on October 17, 2023, in Arlington, VA.

Industry self-regulation has long been an effective option for business to solve its own challenges, address its own shortcomings, discipline participants and supply chain partners, and help achieve important governance/policy objectives in the most informed and efficient manner possible. And yet the potential for broad-based industry-led solutions to achieve policy goals is often overlooked. 

Awareness of industry self-regulation may be low, but its potential to improve our society is high.

Now more than ever it is time for industry to take a greater leadership role on the many challenges that face society and engage alternative, agile, responsive governance structures rooted in soft law to address the challenging regulatory issues of today. This event will serve as the foundational brick in the construction of that framework.

During the inaugural Soft Law Summit, attendees:

• Examined and evaluate specific scenarios where co-regulation and industry self-regulation have been deployed around the world, across industries
• Discussed what has worked and what has not worked, including the effectiveness of pledge and certification programs
• Identified the ideal pre-conditions for effective industry self-regulation including the tools and mechanisms for improving the accountability, credibility, and public trust of such programs
• Mapped out the potential for industry self-regulation going forward to address emerging technologies and the unique challenges they present, including artificial intelligence