OSTIA NEWS

The International State of Safety Tech

The International State of Safety Tech

This report provides an overview of the international Safety Tech landscape, the trends that drive it currently and recommendations for further growth opportunities.

OSTIA has partnered with PUBLIC to research and report on the international Safety Tech landscape. The Safety Tech sector provides innovative technologies and solutions to facilitate safer online experiences, and protect users from harmful content, contact or conduct. In our report, we offer an overview of the international Safety Tech landscape, a summary of the trends and drivers of the market and 5 key recommendations to grow the sector.

This report is the first of its kind dedicated to the international landscape, as analysis to date has focused on two key geographies, the United Kingdom and United States. Our research includes extensive international mapping of Safety Tech players, the locations from which they operate, their focus areas and technologies, as well as the trends internationally and locally that impact them.

Key Takeaways
  • We have identified over 350 Safety Tech providers operating internationally. We recognise there will be many more companies which offer Safety Tech solutions within a broader portfolio of products and services.
  • 64% of identified Safety Tech providers are headquartered in the UK or US, with smaller, emerging pockets of Safety Tech talent in Canada, Germany, France, Israel, and Ireland.
  • The majority of Safety Tech providers offer technologies and solutions that tackle multiple online harms. However across the providers we identified, the most prominent online harms addressed include hate, violent and graphic content, and mis/disinformation.
  • An increasing number of countries are looking to regulate online safety; however, regulatory divergence between a system-led and harm-led approach reduces the clarity of market signals to Safety Tech providers for long-term product development.
  • Safety Tech providers globally face a number of common challenges which require cooperation between international stakeholders, including barriers to data availability, a lack of standardised approaches to classify online harms (e.g. taxonomies), and limited awareness from government and law enforcement of available Safety Tech products and services.

Ian Stevenson, Chair of OSTIA and CEO of Cyacomb

As legislators and regulators seek to drive improvements in online safety which is an inherently international issue, I’m delighted to be a part of launching this first report on the international state of Safety Tech. The report affirms again that it is an exciting and fast growing space, with huge potential and opportunity globally.

Daniel Korski, CEO and Co-Founder at PUBLIC

Staying safe online is critical to businesses and consumers everywhere and requires global rather than just national solutions. The Safety Tech sector – with its innovations from age verification for child safety to fact-checking for disinformation – is absolutely critical to finding these solutions. Through PUBLIC’s work with the U.K. government we have supported the growth of the Safety Tech sector over the past three years. I am now delighted that PUBLIC has partnered with the Online Safety Tech Industry Association (OSTIA) to launch our first International State of Safety Tech report, exploring the trends driving this market globally and offering recommendations to encourage further growth.