Published: 03 Dec 2025
British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will work with global cloud provider Amazon Web Services to revolutionise global content classification with their AI solution, CLEARD.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) today announces it has been named as a recipient of the 2025 Amazon Web Services (AWS) Imagine Grant under the ‘Go Further, Faster’ category - an initiative that recognises nonprofit organisations in the U.K. using technology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.
The grant will enable the BBFC to accelerate the development of its groundbreaking AI-powered solution, CLEARD, which aims to streamline global classification processes, reduce compliance barriers for content creators and distributors, and empower global audiences to make informed viewing choices.
Now in its third year in the U.K., the AWS Imagine Grant programme provides vital funding, technical support, and cloud resources to nonprofit organisations looking to deploy cloud technology as a central tool to achieve mission goals. This year’s winning projects were assessed on their innovation, social impact, and clearly defined outcomes that will accelerate impact in local and global communities.
CLEARD - developed by BBFC Technology Ltd - is an advanced human-led, AI-assisted solution designed to deliver trusted, localised age ratings for multiple countries from a single compliance viewing, dramatically streamlining the process and accelerating global distribution of digital content.
The BBFC is developing the CLEARD tool using AWS cloud infrastructure, including secure storage via Amazon S3 and scalable compute resources to power its machine learning models. With AWS services, CLEARD ensures the highest levels of performance, reliability, and data protection - key to supporting the BBFC’s role as a trusted, regulatory-build solution.
As an AWS Imagine Grant recipient, the BBFC will receive up to approximately $50,000 (£37,500) in unrestricted funding, up to $12,000 (£9,000) in AWS Promotional Credits, and engagement with AWS technical specialists to advance CLEARD’s development and deployment.
David Austin OBE, Chief Executive of the BBFC, said: "The BBFC is focused on enabling audiences to make informed viewing decisions and to protect children and vulnerable adults from harmful content. Our goal is for more global streaming services to adopt our age ratings in the UK, and to support the broader use of recognised local standards wherever audiences watch content.
We’re delighted to receive the AWS Imagine Grant to help accelerate CLEARD’s rollout and achieve this goal, as more distributors and streaming services look for efficient, regulator backed solutions to meet multi market compliance requirements.”
"We are thrilled to support the UK’s nonprofit sector to tackle some of society’s most pressing issues,” said Kris Burtwistle, Head of Local Government and Nonprofit Organisations at AWS. "Our Imagine Grant recipients are pioneering innovative approaches to amplify their mission’s impact through the power of technology. We look forward to collaborating closely with this year’s recipients, and helping them to harness cloud technology to positively impact communities in the UK and beyond."
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the independent film and video regulator for the UK. Through widely recognised and trusted age ratings and content advice, the BBFC works to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful content and to empower audiences to make informed viewing decisions. All BBFC classification decisions are based on our Classification Guidelines, which are updated every four to five years to ensure our standards continue to reflect the expectations and values of people across the UK. Please visit bbfc.co.uk for further information.
For press enquiries please contact +44 (0) 7946 423719 or press@bbfc.co.uk
BBFC Technology Ltd creates cutting-edge compliance solutions for content distributors, creators and regulators. Backed by over a century of classification expertise, BBFC Technology combines regulatory insight with AI innovation to help digital content distributors navigate local content compliance requirements with speed, accuracy, and confidence.
Developed by BBFC Technology Ltd, CLEARD is a groundbreaking AI-powered tool delivering fully localised age ratings for multiple countries—all from a single compliance viewing. Built in collaboration with international partners, CLEARD is designed to meet the demands of global digital content distribution— streamlining compliance, reducing delays, and ensuring content reaches audiences quickly, responsibly, and in line with local standards.
For press enquiries: press@cleard.org
For industry: info@cleard.org (for more information or to request a demo)
Since the launch of the Imagine Grant programme in 2018, AWS has awarded over $14M in unrestricted funds, AWS Promotional Credits, and AWS training support to more than 130 nonprofit organisations in support of their technology-driven goals. Previous winners are currently using AWS services to tackle critical challenges such as eliminating barriers to food security, improving maternal health outcomes, helping millions access clean and safe drinking water globally, tackling rare disease research, and more.
Over 85,000 nonprofit organisations worldwide use AWS to increase their impact and advance mission goals. Through multiple programmes tailored specifically to the nonprofit community, AWS can enable nonprofits of all sizes to overcome barriers to technology adoption, while enhancing the scale, performance, and capabilities of mission operations.
For more information on the AWS Imagine Grant, visit our website.
