A Word from The Boss

Energy Transition, Align to Innovate

Welcome to our Winter newsletter for 2025!

In this edition, we are delighted to share AGIG Multinet Gas Networks “Asset Protection” client success story, herald the announcement of new tools to transform our services, recent Kamapim sessions, wrap up our 2025 #projectMAD MS Brissie to Bay initiative, present another X-InFocus tech tip and update of our teams’ activities in connecting people with information.

I cannot believe that it is July already and our digital Transformation Stages continue with the “Alignment” phase of improving our cloud platform and services are coming together and being realised. We’re thrilled to share an important update about our support process. To provide you with a more streamlined and transparent experience, we have transitioned to our new IT Service Management (ITSM) tool, JIRA Service Management, to allow you to self-service and monitor Support Requests and access all your solution details in one place. This last quarter also see our Products team complete the rollout of our automated deployment pipeline (Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD)) for our X-Info Suite of software and solutions. This sets us up to increase our operational efficiency for our Cloud-first hosted clients and accelerate innovation by streamlining the software development lifecycle by automating the integration, testing, and deployment of our software and solutions for our clients. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Client Success or Support Team at any time for further information.

From all the team at Mipela GeoSolutions, we would like to thank you for your continued partnership, and we look forward to delivering an even better solutions-as-a-service experience in providing technical assurance of your day-to-day activities!

Hayden McDonald
Founder and Managing Director

Security Update: AI in the Workplace – Hype, Hope and Hidden Risks

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how we work and communicate. Whether you’re fully on board or observing from the sidelines, it’s clear that AI tools are being adopted at a remarkable pace.

With this growth, however, come risks. Security, privacy and trust issues are already emerging, and it’s worth understanding the key challenges now rather than later:

Hallucinations

Generative AI can produce content that sounds authoritative but is actually incorrect. These “hallucinations” if left unchecked can lead to poor decisions or the spread of misinformation.

Data security

It’s not uncommon for people to paste sensitive company information into public AI tools without realising the risk. Many of these platforms retain user input and use it to improve their models. That means internal, sensitive data could end up being stored, analysed or even surfaced in future outputs.

Malicious attacks

Attackers can craft inputs that trick an AI system into behaving in ways it wasn’t meant to. This technique, called “jailbreaking”, is especially risky when AI is linked to internal systems like APIs or databases. Another risk is data poisoning, where training data is deliberately manipulated to produce harmful or biased outputs.

As AI becomes part of more business workflows, it’s essential to apply the same rigour to its use as we would with any other technology. Awareness, clear policies and technical safeguards all play a role in ensuring responsible and secure use.

To learn more about managing AI-related risks, refer to the Australian Signals Directorate’s recent (2025) guidance: cyber.gov.au – Engaging with AI

Written by Justin Fielke

Multinet Gas Networks & X-Info Assurance suite: Mapping Out Another GE Smallworld success!

Multinet Gas Networks (MGN) is an active participant in Before You Dig Australia (BYDA), a national automated referral service that provides a single point of contact for accessing information about underground and above-ground utility infrastructure.
The BYDA interface plays a critical role in supporting MGN’s commitment to maintaining the integrity of its physical network. Furthermore, the BYDA system is formally recognised as a procedural control within MGN’s key documents that demonstrate the safe operation of the gas network and are submitted to regulatory authorities.

In 2022, the previous vendor advised that the legacy Dial Before You Dig interface used by MGN had reached end-of-life status, with only limited technical support available.

In response, MGN went to the market and evaluated alternative solutions.

Mipela had been providing this service through its offering. X-Info Assurance suite, for another AGIG business, Dampier Bunbury Pipeline (DBP), since 2007 and had successfully migrated their on premise instance of X-Info Assurance suite to Mipela’s cloud hosted solution in 2023. This provided additional assurance to the solution and bringing their enquiry processing up the rankings to 9 out of 1,031 Responders in Australia. MGN considered a range of factors and then made a strategic decision to transition to the Mipela Before You Dig automated response system, X-Info Assurance suite.

Being geospatial information system (GIS) agnostic, Mipela also bought to the table it’s experience with GE Smallworld. Having the experience and skills to be able to offer several integration options, Mipela were able to provide guidance to the client through the decision making process and provide a fit for purpose solution.

“Mipela have provided us a good technical solution for our BYDA automation and has helped us to minimise risk, enhance response time and optimise asset security for us as a critical infrastructure business,” said Prateek Kateelkar, Head of Engineering and Standards – Distribution at AGIG.

Written by Karen Thompson

InFocus: Your Support Experience is Getting an Upgrade

As part of our commitment to providing more responsive and transparent experience, we have transitioned to a new IT Service Management (ITSM) platform for managing Support Requests and accessing details about the solutions we provide to our Clients.

You may have seen the recent email announcement—here’s a quick recap of what’s changing and what it means for you.

What’s New?

We’re moving away from traditional email-based support and launching a dedicated Support Portal, powered by Jira Service Management. This new platform offers:

• Self service request tracking, allowing users to monitor the status of your support requests and participate in the process of resolution
• Real-time visibility into the progress of your support requests
• Centralised access to important details about your X-Info solution
• Clear tracking of your Technical Support Contract (TSC) balance and usage
• No more digging through email threads—everything you need will be in one place.

Support Portal at a Glance

Through the new portal, your authorised team members will be able to:

• Securely log issues quickly and track their progress
• Add notes and attachments when you communicate directly within specific requests
• Manage who can raise or view tickets on your behalf
• Submit a range of request types depending on your needs.

Your Confluence TSC Space

In addition to the portal, we’ve created a personalised space in supporting app, Confluence. It’s designed to give you a clear overview of your TSC status and house useful documents like:

• As Built system documentation
• Architecture overviews
• Quick reference guides
• Release notes
• Support delivery plans.

Who has access?

Access to ITSM will be limited to authorised users from your company. Internal escalations should be directed to them to raise with Mipela Support. This will ensure requests are lodged from select users who have authority to make changes to the solution. If you’re unsure of the authorised users, reach out to our Support team for clarification.

Getting Assistance

If you have any questions or need help getting started with the new system, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team in Brisbane on 07 3252 5589 or email them.

Written by Alek Hillier and Jacqueline Button

Kamapim Update: Driving Continuous Improvement Across People, Product and Industry Insight

As we push into the second half of the year with a clear focus on enhancing our services, software, and people, the rubber has truly hit the road. We’ve had a productive quarter full of engagement, knowledge-sharing, and innovation.

Industry Insights: Natural Gas Pipeline Awareness and Safety

We were privileged to have Dominic Puiu from APA Group present to the Mipela team on Natural Gas Pipeline Awareness and Safety. With APA responsible for 15,000 km of transmission pipeline and managing a further 25,000 km of gas mains and pipelines—servicing 1.4 million consumers on behalf of AGN—Dominic shared valuable insights into:

• The properties and handling of natural gas
• Awareness and safety protocols across both distribution and transmission networks
• Planning and development considerations critical to pipeline safety

Dominic’s deep operational experience underscored the importance of awareness and collaboration in safeguarding critical infrastructure.

On-the-Ground in PNG: Pipeline and Facilities Rectification

Jasper Tieland, Senior Project Engineer at Santos, provided a compelling look at pipeline and facilities rectification works in Papua New Guinea. His presentation gave us a deeper appreciation for the challenging environment and terrain in which field teams operate. These real-world insights remind us of the resilience and innovation required to deliver infrastructure in complex conditions.

Product Development: Evolving with Purpose

Our Products team delivered updates on our software roadmap and showcased recent enhancements. These developments reflect ongoing feedback from our clients and reinforce our goal of building intuitive, powerful solutions that respond to evolving industry needs.

Raising the Bar in Subsurface Asset Location

To close out the quarter, we welcomed Robert Rowe, CEO from Certloc Global, who walked us through the rigorous training behind Certloc Certified Locator accreditation. Robert highlighted the importance of Plan Quality Levels and how utilising certified locators can significantly reduce the risk of asset damage. It’s a clear call to action: protecting underground infrastructure starts with proper identification.

Written by Jacqueline Button

Product Update: X-Info Connect’s New Look!

The latest release of X-Info Connect introduces a modernised and streamlined user interface designed to enhance usability and efficiency. Key updates include a simplified toolbar, an intuitive Activities tree, and a flexible tabbed layout.

The main toolbar now offers quick access to essential functions like opening a Connection, Undo/Redo, Cut/Copy/Paste, and launching the Explorer tab. Each tab displays its own context-specific toolbar, which can be hidden when not in use.

The new Activities tree presents all available activities for an open Connection and can be easily hidden to maximise workspace. Meanwhile, the Connection Explorer is now accessible as a tab, allowing users to work across multiple tabs for both Explorer and Activities.

Navigation has been enhanced with toolbar tools for moving back, forward, up, and down within any tab. A dynamic breadcrumb trail in the status bar provides clear navigation paths and clickable links for quick access.

Finally, synchronised functionality ensures consistent access to key actions—such as Close, Save As, Logout, Connection Settings and Work Offline—whether accessed via the Activities tree or Explorer tab.

These updates make X-Info Connect more intuitive and powerful than ever.

Written by Kirsty Beer

Staff Update: Introducing Leo Liu

Leo recently joined the Mipela team as a Project Coordinator. So, we asked him a few hard questions so we could all get to know him a little better.

Can you share a brief overview of your professional background and what led you to join our team?

Ever since I was a little kid, I knew I had a passion and curiosity for building and fixing things myself. If there’s a way to solve a problem, I will stay up all night to figure it out. I began my project management career right out of university, where I studied Industrial Design, and I am so happy to find the same spark and excitement in my work like when I was a kid up all night building things and fixing things.

What’s a unique skill or perspective you bring to the team that you’re eager to share?

I played high level sports since I was young, and later in life I’ve appreciated just how much it has taught me to handle situations under pressure. I always try to find the best outcome when things go down, and being able to think outside the box to create better solutions.

Outside of work, what’s a hobby or interest you’re passionate about that might surprise us?

I love DIY and building things myself. Over the years I’ve built a variety of things including:

• 8 Gaming PC’s
• 3 Skateboards
• 3 Custom mechanical keyboards
• 2 Go-Karts
• 2 project cars!

Written by Leo Liu

#projectMAD Team Update: 2025 Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Brissie to the Bay Fundraising Ride

For the fifteenth consecutive year, Mipela’s managing director, Hayden McDonald has led a team of MAD (Make a Difference) fundraising cyclists in the 35^th MS Brissie to the Bay ride. On the day, fourteen riders tackled the 130km and ten the 50km rides.

This year the team managed to fundraise a whopping $42,361.00 for MS Queensland. This takes the grand total of $460,051.00 raised by the team for MS Queensland in the last fifteen years the MAD team have supported this event. This year they were also named this year’s highest corporate fundraiser – ahead of Donut King and Multiplex Constructions.

“Supporting MS over the last 15 years with such an extraordinary group of MAD participants only reinforces my belief that teamwork makes the dreamwork in the goals we have achieved in 2025. I am incredibly proud.” said Hayden.

Congratulations to and a huge thank you to our amazing 2025 MAD fundraising legends, their supporters, our teams.

Platinum Sponsors

AWS, Fortian, MCGlobal Solutions, Powered, Sentanil Systems

Corporate Sponsors

August Consulting, Austrack Equipment Pty Ltd , CST Hire, CNC Project Management, EA Hire, Everlight Radiology, FSA Consulting Engineers, Piping & Industrial Supplies Australia, RP Projectify Project Management, Sage Consulting Solutions, Simon James Photography.

These guys have gone above and beyond… their dedication and commitment to raise awareness of MS and neurological conditions is inspirational!