RIA refers to a systemic approach by governments to critically assess the positive and negative effects of proposed and existing regulations and non-regulatory alternatives.

The purpose of the reward is to stimulate and facilitate the sharing of innovative RIAs among practitioners and other experts, and to focus on actual impacts of good RIAs (as opposed to merely good RIA systems).

This inaugural Global RIA Awards will reward selected submissions in three categories:

A. Influential RIAs

This category entails cases where RIA has been able to influence the way policymakers think of a policy problem and has had impact on the regulatory outcome. This could take place for instance through well-conducted analyses, new data, and innovative regulatory alternatives.

B. Innovative data collection and consultation

The availability and quality of data is a major hurdle for RIA practitioners around the world. This category of the RIA awards will reward RIAs that have been able to find innovative solutions to overcome scarcity of data, for instance through reconsideration of available data sources and new ways to consult with stakeholders.

C. Inventive regulatory alternatives

RIA is a tool to present during the design phase the different available options to solve a specific problem. This category will reward submissions having proposed solutions that challenge traditional ways of thinking, and that provide solutions that are fit for purpose.