Assets and frameworks
Standards, frameworks, and tools that shape good practice.
The frameworks I reference in engagements, the standards that govern healthcare AI, and the tools worth knowing. Linked to their canonical sources.
The Five Safes Framework
Designed to help organisations make decisions about access to sensitive data: safe projects, safe people, safe data, safe settings, safe outputs. Developed by the ONS and now the backbone of Secure Data Environments and Trusted Research Environments across the NHS.
DCB0129 — Clinical Risk Management: Manufacture of Health IT
The clinical safety standard that applies to any health IT system whose malfunction or misuse could harm a patient. Covers clinical safety cases, hazard logs, and the requirement for a designated Clinical Safety Officer. Applies to most AI tools entering clinical pathways.
DCB0160 — Clinical Risk Management: Deployment of Health IT
The deploying organisation's counterpart to DCB0129. NHS trusts accepting health IT systems must conduct their own clinical safety assessment in their own context — they cannot simply accept the vendor's safety case. Most organisations do not know they hold this obligation.
TOGAF — The Open Group Architecture Framework
The global standard for enterprise architecture. Its four domains — business, data, application, technology — remain relevant for AI deployments, though most organisations skip straight to application and technology. That is precisely where AI strategies fail.
ASML — How EUV lithography works
The most extraordinary manufacturing feat in human history: firing lasers at tin beads to generate plasma hotter than the sun, producing chips with features measured in nanometres. Essential context for anyone thinking seriously about AI's physical cost.
Anthropic — Project Glasswing
Anthropic's initiative exploring AI safety, transparency, and the long-term trajectory of frontier AI development. Relevant to anyone thinking about responsible AI adoption and what 'AI for good' actually requires in practice.
SFIA — Skills Framework for the Information Age
The global standard for defining digital and technology skills. The Future Roles section on this site uses SFIA levels (3–7) and skill codes to ground AI-augmented roles in an established professional framework — connecting emerging human-AI capabilities to a language organisations already use for workforce planning.
NHS AI Information Governance Guidance
NHS England's guidance on information governance for AI — covering data protection obligations, transparency requirements, and accountability frameworks specific to health and care settings. The bit most AI projects in the NHS skip until legal asks why they skipped it. Essential reading before any AI system touches patient data.
A Guide to Using AI in the Public Sector
The UK government's practical guidance for public sector organisations adopting AI — covering how to identify opportunities, assess readiness, procure responsibly, and govern deployment. Written for decision-makers rather than technologists. Useful framing for NHS and government bodies navigating AI adoption without a clear internal playbook.
EU AI Act
The world's first comprehensive legal framework for artificial intelligence — risk-tiered, with outright prohibitions at the top and lighter obligations for minimal-risk systems. Healthcare AI sits firmly in the high-risk category. If you are deploying AI in a clinical or regulated setting, this is not optional reading: it is the compliance baseline that will shape procurement, governance, and accountability across the NHS and beyond.
PESTLE Analysis
A structured lens for reading the environment an organisation operates in: Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, Environmental. Simple in concept, deceptively powerful in practice. Most strategy work skips it — which is why most strategies fail to anticipate the conditions they land in. Essential groundwork before any AI adoption plan that expects to survive contact with reality.