About, Citation and Reuse¶
Framework identity¶
| Full name | Health Data Readiness Level (HDRL) Assessment Framework |
| Version | 1.0 |
| Framework date | January 2026 |
| Validation status | Evidence-informed and formatively applied; further independent validation is required |
| Originated and developed by | OPL Advisory Ltd |
| Original application | 3 Nations Readiness Assessment for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland |
| Commissioner | Research Data Scotland, on behalf of the devolved nations |
| Intellectual property rights owner | Research Data Scotland |
The website is a navigable presentation of the framework used in the 3 Nations Readiness Assessment. Research Data Scotland owns the intellectual property rights in the commissioned project outputs. The framework methodology is made openly available under CC BY 4.0 in fulfilment of the project's open-access aim, with OPL Advisory credited as its originator and developer. The eight-domain structure, 64 indicators, classifications and five maturity levels remain those of HDRL Framework v1.0.
Version 1.0 terminology
This site uses the framework's maturity-level names: Initial, Developing, Defined, Managed and Optimising. The indicator structure, descriptors and scoring logic are unchanged from HDRL v1.0.
Suggested citation¶
OPL Advisory Ltd. Health Data Readiness Level (HDRL) Assessment Framework. Version 1.0. January 2026. Commissioned by and intellectual property rights owned by Research Data Scotland. https://hdrlframework.org/.
When citing an assessment, also identify the system or service assessed, the assessment date, scope, evidence standard and assessor.
When reusing the framework, attribute Research Data Scotland as commissioner and intellectual property rights owner and OPL Advisory Ltd as originator and developer.
Published assessment¶
Seymour D. Health Data Research Service: Three Nations Readiness Assessment—Final Report. Version 1.0. OPL Advisory; July 2026. Published by Research Data Scotland, 14 July 2026.
Read the RDS publication page or download the Final Report (PDF).
The Final Report is the authorised source for findings from the 3 Nations Readiness Assessment. The framework website does not reproduce the underlying detailed country assessment records.
Licence¶
The HDRL Framework methodology and the public framework materials on this website are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0).
You may share and adapt the material, including for international use, provided appropriate credit is given, a link to the licence is supplied and changes are indicated. The licence does not imply endorsement of an adapted framework, assessment or score by OPL Advisory, Research Data Scotland, the assessed nations or the UK Health Data Research Service (HDRS).
Framework and assessment results¶
The open licence applies to the framework methodology: its domains, indicator structure, maturity model and assessment approach, together with the public explanatory material on this website. It does not publish or license the underlying detailed assessment records, non-public evidence or unpublished country- or indicator-level results.
Research Data Scotland and the respective nations retain control over those assessment materials and decisions about their release. Findings about individual nations should be taken only from the authorised Final Report.
Responsible reuse¶
To preserve comparability and avoid misleading claims:
- identify any changes to indicator wording, classifications, thresholds or aggregation;
- do not describe an adapted instrument as HDRL v1.0 without clearly recording the adaptation;
- retain the distinction between framework assessment and official accreditation or participation decisions;
- document the evidence and assessment date behind every score;
- obtain permission from Research Data Scotland and, where relevant, the assessed nation before publishing non-public evidence, detailed assessment records or results outside the authorised Final Report; and
- avoid implying that a maturity level guarantees a research outcome or delivery time.
Source and corrections¶
The canonical applied-v1 framework and method reference is available from the Applied v1 Method Source page. The website source and version history remain available in the public GitHub repository.
A concise machine-readable guide to the site's public resources is available at /llms.txt.
For factual corrections or proposed improvements to the website presentation, please open a GitHub issue. Changes to the framework itself should be versioned explicitly so that HDRL v1.0 remains reproducible.
Version discipline
Readiness changes over time. A future framework version or reassessment should not silently overwrite the structure, evidence or interpretation of a previous assessment.