Queensland Health Artificial Intelligence Framework S4: Stage 4, solution assessment or contract award (Gate 3): develop the implementation plan addressing outstanding risks, budget and timelines; obtain approval to deploy on a performance report using unseen data or validated pilot results; for procurement assess suppliers against objectives and benefits with vendor information on accuracy and transparency, award the contract and service level agreements and obtain legal and contractual advice; conduct social and environmental impact assessment, resolve stakeholder concerns, complete ICT project assurance, set minimum quality standards, assess vendor and technology reputational risk and output auditing needs, update and communicate change management, agree minimum service availability (accessibility, uptime, response time, downtime procedures), test the technical integration against workflows and data pipelines and the user interface with stakeholders, approve the risk management plan and update the risk assessment, and set KPI minimum standards at warning and critical levels; clinical applications also pass clinical governance

What does S4 require?

Stage 4 seeks approval for the AI solution to be deployed. For internally developed solutions this means further evaluating performance on data not yet used or reporting results from the pilot, trial or prototype; for procurement the initiative owner reports the market engagement outcomes, assures delivery within endorsed scope, budget and time and the stated benefits, and seeks support to award, or notes the award of, the contract after negotiations, with any additional funding, timelines and resources approved. The team develops an implementation plan that addresses identified risks and issues before deployment and assesses delivery within budget and timelines; gains approval to deploy into production or wider rollout on the performance report; for procurement assesses prospective suppliers against business objectives and the benefits sought, examines vendor information on accuracy and transparency, awards the contract and signs service level agreements, and obtains legal, commercial and contractual advice on risks to mitigate; conducts an impact assessment including social and environmental impact; addresses the issues stakeholders have raised or reassesses their support; completes any assurance required for ICT-enabled projects; sets minimum quality standards for use; assesses reputational risk from the vendor or the technology; decides whether and how outputs will be audited; brings the change management strategy up to date and communicates it; obtains approval and stakeholder buy-in for minimum service availability standards covering accessibility, percentage uptime, response time and downtime procedures; tests and validates the technical integration plan for compatibility with workflows and data pipelines and tests the user interface with expected end users; ensures the risk management plan is approved and updates the risk assessment; and establishes minimum KPI standards defined at warning and critical levels. The decision maker and governance, satisfied with performance and integration test results and with clinical governance input for clinical applications, approve deployment unconditionally or conditionally, request further information and reassessment, or decline, giving an unsuccessful initiative enough information and an agreed timeframe to revisit earlier stages.