By Warwick Wood, Founder and Managing Director of EarthScience Information Systems Pty Ltd the creators of ESdat.

At EarthScience Information Systems (EScIS), being a software company, we like many other groups, are using AI extensively for our internal workflows. A key finding from our work is that when it comes to using AI for data manipulation, the instructions sent to the AI engine need to be very specific to obtain reliable and repeatable results. Validation of the output by a supervising person is a key part of the process; however, it has been found that validation of the AI output can sometimes be time-consuming and complex.

Packaging AI processes into a product that already contains the specific instructions to complete the task and receive the desired results, and also guides users through the validation process in a methodical and efficient manner, is, we feel, essential to broad and reliable application of the technology. In this article, we will elaborate on how we are implementing the above philosophy to resolve a specific need raised by a section of our ESdat users.

A recurring challenge we hear from organizations in our sector is that they have received data for a site of interest, but it is only available as a report in PDF format and not in a format which is intended for data exchange.

Data extraction from PDF has traditionally been labor-intensive, and traditional "coded" software isn't great at automating significant portions of it. This is an area in which AI can excel; however, given it can also result in introduced errors, it needs to be implemented within a quality control process incorporating tools that help make data validation reliable and efficient.

For optimal success, a hybrid system integrates AI with coded software. Coded software excels by providing consistent data manipulation and processing on the AI-extracted data to help people validate the results and import them into the destination database.

EScIS is developing tools embedded into ESdat to guide users through that process, to make it streamlined and repeatable, to integrate the key strengths of AI, coded software, and human oversight; and to automate and track all data manipulation tasks so people supervising it can focus their attention where human input is critical - on validation.

The process to support extracting Analytical Results from a PDF Laboratory Certificate of Analysis is summarised in Figure 1. Validation steps are in blue while the AI step is in orange, and coded automation steps are in black.

Figure 1: Key steps in the use of AI to extract and validate data from PDF reports.

The key principles of this workflow are:

• The process should be guided within the software as a series of logical and repeatable steps.
• The process should be able to be performed by anyone with the attention to detail and knowledge of the workflow to perform the validation steps.
• AI performs a key role, but it is the surrounding workflow facilitated by coded software that makes it really usable.
• All data extraction and manipulation steps should be automated, traceable, and reviewed.

The above reflects the approach to usage of AI we have adopted at EarthScience Information Systems; that AI can be incorporated to provide software solutions that were not feasible previously, and with this hybrid process traditional "coded" software can provide the surrounding workflow to make it as intuitive and easy as possible for people supervising the process to validate the data, perform quality control, and track data lineage.

EarthScience Information Systems anticipates this being available for extracting data from Certificates of Analysis issued by some key laboratories by late 2026, with other laboratories and other data tables (such as those included in the body of a report) to follow subsequently.

To learn more about ESdat, visit Environmental Data Management Software for Monitoring & Compliance - ESdat.

 

About the Author

Warwick Wood is the founder and Managing Director of EarthScience Information Systems Pty Ltd (EScIS), an Australian-based company specializing in the hydrogeological, contaminated site, and environmental monitoring software, ESdat. ESdat is a comprehensive environmental data platform used to manage, analyze, and report laboratory results, field results, groundwater, logger, and other hydrogeological and environmental data. ESdat is today trusted by many of the world's leading mining and industrial organizations, international environmental consultancies, and government agencies. Warwick's technical foundations underpin his work in software development. He began his career as a Geophysicist specializing in hydrogeological investigations in Australia, before moving to the United Kingdom, where he focused on groundwater modeling. This hands-on field and consulting experience gave him a deep understanding of the practical challenges faced by environmental practitioners, challenges that continue to shape the design and evolution of ESdat.

Warwick holds a BSc (Hons) in Geology/Geophysics from the University of New South Wales and a Master of Science in Hydrogeology from the University of Technology Sydney. His combination of scientific expertise and two decades of software leadership positions him as a leading figure at the intersection of environmental science and data management technology.

Categories

Data Management

Keywords

ESdat, EScIS, AI PDF Extraction