Technology entrepreneurship and innovation hubs: Perspectives on the universal regulatory sandbox

In the USA, state governments have long focused on how they can provide an attractive operating environment for enterprises to locate and expand business operations within their respective political jurisdiction. In recent years, however, a new focus of state governments is on nurturing technology entrepreneurship creating long-term organizational success that translates into sustainable local- and state-level economic growth. To this end, there has been an expansion of ‘innovation hubs’ across the country. These innovation hubs are considered local and regional ‘laboratories’ for technology-focused, entrepreneurial businesses to gestate their new products and services within state-level political boundaries. A recently emerging phenomenon has been the development of the ‘regulatory sandbox’ concept as a further enhancement of the public policy operating environment for nurturing technology entrepreneurship, with a further conceptual extension—to the ‘universal regulatory sandbox’—now being legislatively enacted and implemented.