Robots, drones and driverless cars will be trialled in public spaces of a UK city – with Browne Jacobson helping to navigate legal obstacles. 

The UK and Ireland law firm is advising Milton Keynes Robotics Adoption Hub, which is piloting the roll-out of emerging technologies to support transport, logistics and delivery services, with the aim of eventual nationwide application. 

It is one of eight robotics adoption hubs that will receive a share of £40m funding announced by the UK Government last week for supporting real-world demonstrations of robotics and autonomous technology. 

Browne Jacobson previously advised Milton Keynes City Council, which is part of the Smart City MK Community Interest Company consortium that will deliver the Hub, during its RoboPASS trailblazer project. 

This created a regulatory and licensing framework to safely integrate multi-purpose robots into everyday life, providing the legal foundations for a scalable model that can be rolled out nationally in the robotics adoption hub network. 

Chris Holder, Partner specialising in technology at Browne Jacobson, has led the Browne Jacobson team that has provided advice on IT contracting and licensing, with support from Richard Barlow, Partner in highways, planning and environment; Megan Rogers, Associate in public law; and Annabel Taylor, Associate in the technology projects team.

Chris said: “Robotics and autonomous technologies offer huge potential for transforming public services – ranging from maintaining paths and gritting roads to delivering shopping and identifying damage to highways infrastructure – but this requires careful evolution of various laws and regulations. 

“This has been a very exciting project to work on, encompassing our firm’s ambitions to work with clients at the forefront of tackling society’s biggest issues, and this next stage brings opportunities to test these technologies in real-world environments.

“The Milton Keynes team has already been contacted by robotic platform providers in the UK and overseas, and by other local authorities, all of which are interested in finding out what we are doing and how we have developed this new testing and licensing framework. This is a great opportunity for the UK to tap into this new technology to aid its industrial growth programme.”

The Milton Keynes Robotics Adoption Hub, operating from The Smart City Experience Centre in centre:mk shopping centre, will focus on the deployment of robotics in open and closed public spaces.

It acts as a valuable resource for businesses and public sector organisations looking to understand and adopt robotics and automation technologies such as autonomous vehicles, drones, industrial robots and other automated systems used across a range of sectors.

Support will be offered to end users in the form of impartial advice and structured support, seeing robotics technologies in action, as well as connection with industry specialists, all aimed at helping them identify practical opportunities to improve productivity, address skills challenges and drive growth through automation. By making robotics more accessible and easier to understand, the Hub will support organisations of all sizes to explore, test and adopt new technologies with confidence.

Key delivery partners within Smart City MK CIC include Milton Keynes City Council, Cranfield University, The Open University, Beverly Clarke Consulting, Ohmio UK and Smart City Consultancy. 

Speaking about the Hub launch, Ian Pulford, CEO of Smart City MK CIC, said: “This is such a great endorsement of many years of hard work with civic, business and education partners in and around Milton Keynes to ensure the city develops at the forefront of robotics innovation.”

Browne Jacobson’s government practice has supported numerous public bodies on major technology-enabled transformation programmes. This experience includes advising the Department for Health and Social Care on new contracts related to the Ambulance Radio Programme; NHS England on moving the NHS111 service on to a digital platform; HM Revenue and Customs on ASPIRE, one of the largest public sector IT outsourcing contracts ever tendered in the UK; and the Debt Management Office on the procurement of a new cloud-based platform for trading of the UK national debt. 

Peter Ware, Partner and Head of Government at Browne Jacobson added: “This project is a great example of what our government practice does best, bringing together deep expertise across complex technology, planning and environment to help public sector clients navigate genuinely novel legal challenges. We're proud to support Milton Keynes in shaping what could become a blueprint for robotics adoption across the country.”