Central Government

For nearly 30 years, we've been the technology partner behind some of New Zealand's most critical infrastructure. We help central government agencies build a resilient, innovative, sovereign digital future backed open source and NZ hosting solutions.

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Open
Sovereign
Built to last

When New Zealand has more choice, clarity and control over the data and systems that impact people, something powerful happens: technology stops being something that happens to us, and starts being something we shape.

We help central government agencies adopt open standards and open source solutions so that one agency's solution becomes another's starting point, modernisation doesn't have to mean rip and replace, and investment shifts from offshore licensing fees to building local capability and digital resilience - all while reducing duplication and the cost of reinventing the wheel along the way.

Open, sovereign, built to last. Catalyst launches its 2026 Election Manifesto to unleash New Zealand’s world-class sovereign tech. 

DIA Marketplace

We are a tier 2 supplier, registered for Consultancy and Professional Services covering testing, front and back-end development, design, web accessibility, UX, and change management; and Managed Services covering application and server management.

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All-of-Government Cloud framework

Catalyst Cloud is our sister company and an All-of-Government provider, with the option to host on NZ infrastructure, keeping your data governed by NZ law and supporting data sovereignty.

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Track record

Over three decades, we've partnered with central and local government agencies, hundreds of NZ organisations and are proud of the long-term relationships we have built with clients across our project portfolio.

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NZ national infrastructure

We've designed and built digital systems that help serve millions of New Zealanders - from public-facing national infrastructure to the platforms government agencies rely on.

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We've got your back

We have designed and built digital systems that serve millions of New Zealanders — from public-facing national infrastructure to the platforms government agencies rely on every day.

When COVID-19 struck, we helped the Department of Internal Affairs build a fully working financial support service in six days, because the open foundations were already in place. The Life Events Platform has been running, adapting, and delivering for a decade, with no licensing fees and no starting from scratch.

We backed the Ministry of Education to modernise critical infrastructure for 2,000+ users with zero disruption. Progressive transformation works.

Our international experience brings real advantage to Aotearoa. We helped a French client avoid millions in obsolescence costs using open source alternatives to Big Tech. We bring that same mindset to every project we partner on here.

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Our services

Strategy & consulting

We can help you shape ideas before RFI and RFPs, or if you're at the proposal stage, you can work with us for your digital transformation projects. We help you make technology decisions that build capability and genuine control over systems serving NZ.

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Automation, AI & ML

Agentic search, automation, content generation, decision support, or R&D proof-of-concepts, we help you experiment with AI, prove use cases, and implement what works. Option to run open source models on NZ infrastructure, or your preferred cloud.

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Digital experience and web accessibility

Evidence-based research, strategic design, testing with real people. We help you create digital experiences that reflect your community and help you respond faster. Audits, implementation support, and roadmaps to help you meet WCAG 2.2 AA are available.

Improve digital experiences

Software engineering & development

Custom software, legacy modernisation, complex integrations. Modern engineering practices with automated testing and code reviews that maintain quality at scale.

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Cloud consulting, platform & services

Cove is Catalyst's fully managed cloud platform - auto-scaling, high availability, geo-redundancy and disaster recovery. Runs on Catalyst Cloud with the option to store data in NZ, or across AWS and Azure infrastructure.

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Learning, development & compliance

We have extensive experience with platforms that help you onboard, train and retain your people, helping your organisation maintain compliance for staff learning and recertification.

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Collections & cultural heritage

Rōpū kohinga is a dedicated team at Catalyst team specialising in collections management platforms: DSpace repository, VuFind discovery interfaces and Koha library management. Supporting institutions to digitalise and protect assets for generations.

Learn more about Rōpū kohinga

Content management & digital services

Silverstripe and Drupal expertise spanning decades. Multilingual databases, multi-architecture and public-facing sites. Brochureware can be launched quickly using our pre-configured CMS - timelines depend on your requirements and content readiness.

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Open, sovereign, and built to last. Catalyst has been delivering exactly that for New Zealand's public sector for nearly three decades.

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