Main Roads WA & GHD Digital revolutionise document management

A new initiative involving Main Roads Western Australia and GHD Digital is set to transform the management of technical document libraries using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

Main Roads Western Australia, known for overseeing the state's road network, has partnered with GHD Digital, part of the professional services firm GHD. The collaboration aims to enhance the accessibility and management of Main Roads' Technical Library through machine learning and generative AI technologies.

The objective of the new system is to allow over 3,000 documents, including policies, regulations, guidelines, and technical drawings, to be searched and linked using plain language inputs. This development is expected to streamline processes and improve the consistency and currency of library documents, providing significant productivity improvements and mitigating risks.

Bita Charehjoo, Network Operations Planning Manager at Main Roads, emphasised the importance of precision in the Technical Library, stating, "Multi-million-dollar contracts and projects are dependent on the precision of our Technical Library. Having spent many years developing and managing the policies, guidelines, specifications and technical drawings - and many hands-on hours checking the validity of edits and updates, there has to be a smarter, faster way of indexing and cataloguing documentation."

This initiative seeks to automatically identify edits across affected documents and communicate changes promptly to stakeholders. Sarah Dods, Region Leader of Advanced Analytics and AI at GHD Digital, noted, "This new generative AI approach seeks to automatically identify edits across impacted documents, draw inferences and communicate changes to necessary stakeholders, reducing a process that used to take days to complete to just minutes."

Designed within Microsoft Azure, the solution employs large language models (LLMs) for reading text and recognising references in various document formats. Its functionality is further enhanced by Azure AI Search, an AI-powered platform that facilitates information retrieval. This innovative setup allows team members to interact with documents in everyday language, making it easier to update and manage information effectively.

Sarah Carney, Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, expressed enthusiasm about the project, saying, "Consistency and reliability are so critical in this context and so it is exciting to see the innovative way in which Main Roads is exploring the use of AI to keep their essential documents in check."

As this project progresses from ideation to proof of concept, its productivity and risk-reduction benefits have the potential to change how professionals access and utilise online technical catalogues and libraries. GHD Digital maintains its focus on maximising the benefits of AI and associated technologies to enhance processes and outcomes.