Local Government

Helping you back your community

We back New Zealand councils to have more choice and control over the systems that serve their communities - for technology to stop being something that happens to you, and start being something you shape around you and your community needs.

Contact us
Christchurch City

Solutions that help you do more with less

Councils deserve technology that responds to community need, systems that future generations can build upon, and digital capability that ratepayers can see adding value. This is exactly what we help councils across New Zealand achieve.

We build on shared foundations and open standards so one council's solution becomes another's starting point. Your ratepayer investment creates lasting capability, not vendor dependency. Skills stay in New Zealand. Infrastructure adapts as communities change. You invest in solutions that can respond at the speed of community need.

Working with Catalyst

DIA Digital Marketplace

Catalyst is 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.

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.

Track record

We're a trusted technology partner to 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.

Shared infrastructure

When councils collaborate on shared foundations, others can inherit better starting points while reducing cost and effort duplication.

Our services to local government

Strategy & consulting

We help you make technology decisions that build lasting capability and genuine control. Before RFPs, during procurement, or planning transformation, we ensure your choices today don't limit tomorrow's possibilities.

Explore IT consulting services

Legacy system modernisation

Reduce technology risk, modernise legacy systems, and build on shared foundations that enable unique applications. Software that future councils can maintain and improve. Integrations to streamline workflows and remove siloes.

Ask us about modernisation

Digital experience & 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 to them faster. Audits, implementation support, and roadmaps to help you meet WCAG 2.2 AA.

Choose experience & design services

Collections & cultural heritage

Rōpū kohinga specialises in preserving community assets for future generations. DSpace repository, VuFind discovery, and Koha library management. Digitising today so communities tomorrow can access knowledge for generations.

Explore cultural heritage solutions

Content management and publishing sites

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.

Explore CMS solutions

Infrastructure coordination

Applications to help you coordinate and de-risk infrastructure, share data across teams and contractors, and reduce duplication. Proven savings through better planning.

Request more info

Learning, development & compliance

Platforms that help you build organisational knowledge that survives staff turnover. Training systems that grow with your team. Designed to carry compliance through upgrades.

Explore learning technology

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.

Explore AI services

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.

Explore cloud services

Elected members get learning that fits their reality

In more than 70 councils across Aotearoa, elected members make decisions that impact generations.  When static 30–45 minute modules weren't meeting their needs, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) partnered with Catalyst to rebuild their dedicated learning platform, Ākona, on Tōtara.

The learning was curated into short, completable chunks accessible on any device, at any time, on New Zealand infrastructure. More than 2,000 prospective members were reached through pre-election learning, with 100% satisfaction at Mayor School inductions.

The work that Catalyst has done to make Ākona easy to use has allowed us to respond to our sector.

- Learning Experience Manager, Local Government New Zealand

Read the case study
Open laptop displays the LGNZ website showing the landing page for Ākona, the digital learning platform for elected members. Next to the laptop is a flat white.

Success stories

Tasman District Council(1)

Tasman District Council future-proofs community hub

Screenshot of the Otorohanga Utilities Map

Easily accessible spatial data with GIS Core

A laptop open on Forward Works Viewer displays a map showing cycleway improvement project with the main project details

National Forward Works Viewer saves money and time and improves sustainability

Laptop ePlan

Open source transforms the digital experience for district plan users

Partner with us

You understand your community and what they need. We offer demonstrated practice, technical breadth across the full stack, and commitment to backing local councils to shape a digital future that serves them.

Contact us