The future of standards management in an AI world

You've no doubt noticed that artificial intelligence (AI), such as the popular ChatGPT, Co-Pilot and Gemini, is changing our lives. It is quite understandable that you are thinking, "How convenient it would be to use these tools to quickly browse through purchased standards or find specific information!" And yes, instead of searching through a bulky document, just ask an AI what the correct test thickness of an insulation board is. That would greatly simplify the way we deal with standards.

The 'AIdder' under the grass: Copyrights and Intellectual Property

However, that dream of direct interaction with AI collides with an important reality: standards are copyrighted works, just like a book or a movie. Their content may not be shared with public AI models. Why? Intellectual property (IP) rights are critical because they support the funding model of standardization, ensuring the quality, reliability and durability of standards. Without that protection, we could not continue to develop quality standards. So it's not that we want to deny you anything, but we are protecting a system that is essential to the entire industry.

An optimistic outlook

We understand your need for faster and more intelligent ways to work with standards. Indeed, NBN shares that need. You expect a "smart search," comparison tools and explanations in understandable language.

Therefore, we are working behind the scenes to provide these functionalities without compromising intellectual property. The standardization world is moving from static PDFs to "knowledge-as-a-service.

In our strategic roadmap, we explore the potential of AI to facilitate meaningful access to standards content , while protecting IP. Our goal is to provide you with comprehensive AI-compliant solutions that protect IP in real time. 

The solution: a secure AI environment

Our approach is focused on creating a safe, copyright compliant environment in which you can harness the power of AI. This is the top priority of our AI project team.

At the heart of this development is the "AI assistant. This is an advanced chatbot that generates answers based on the full, validated standards content. This allows you to ask questions and receive answers instantly, while we guarantee that intellectual property remains fully protected.

This functionality provides great value and it is planned that it will eventually replace our current search engine(Elastic).

The AI Assistant will provide features such as clear language summaries and markup of changes. We are committed to providing you with the tools you need to work more efficiently and effectively. With these solutions, we want to not only eliminate the friction in using AI internally, but also create a new, valuable service for you as a customer.