Abstract
This study aims to apply the concept of regulatory stringency to the regulatory sandbox with a fresh perspective. The regulatory sandbox is a system that gives opportunities under certain conditions to new technologies or businesses that have not been launched due to inadequacy or insufficiency in legal systems. Previous research on regulatory sandboxes has mainly focused on discussions about their impact on specific technologies or business domains. This study attention to the results according to the evaluations. Among them, whether special cases for demonstration can evolve into official permission has garnered significant attention. For this study, among the cases that passed the regulatory sandbox evaluation from February, 2019, to December, 2022, 162 cases in the field of ICT convergence were selected. The evaluation results were classified into three groups 'positive interpretation (Fast Track)', 'temporary permission', and 'special case for demonstration.' Each case was assigned to one of the three groups. Through the comparative analysis, the common characteristics and differences were summarized. Then, this study explored improvement measures to pass a less restrictive regulatory sandbox. The analysis of the cases revealed that the differences in each evaluation result were attributed to variations in the technological characteristics and user protection features. Considering these differences, as well as the higher weight and importance of the preparation stage for sandbox application, this study suggested a three-step approach to prepare for temporary permission and positive interpretation rather than special case for demonstration. In addition, this thesis discussed the policy limitations of the regulatory sandbox mechanism in South Korea and the limitations of the current study. Hopefully, the results of this study would be beneficial to individuals and companies, particularly venture companies and startups seeking to develop new technologies or businesses and utilize regulatory sandboxes.