up the
paddle.
Our planet needs change
We are a proven vehicle for delivery, for bringing together the people and experiences and ideas that have made uncommonly great things happen.
We enable people to work together to solve the problem. We are at our best when we turn collaboration into action.
About
us
We exist to make cross-council collaboration happen. We’re here to turn the priorities and ideas of the smart and impassioned people that choose to serve their cities and regions into action.
RSHL is the shared services vehicle for Te Uru Kahika. RSHL is a public limited liability company owned by ten regional and unitary councils. RSHL is a not-for-profit Council Controlled Organisation (CCO).
The governance structure of RSHL includes a Board of Directors appointed by the shareholding councils and a Chief Executive who oversees the day-to-day operation of the company and the various work programmes.
RSHL is a collaboration success story. We enable Te Uru Kahika to achieve more collectively at a lower cost than any one council could achieve individually. RSHL delivers effective solutions and ongoing technology-enabled process improvements. We achieve this by offering greater consistency and shared best practice, as well as delivering tangible benefits through gained experience.
RSHL provides a framework that promotes:
- Shared best practice through collaboration and standardisation.
- Value through economies of scale.
- Greater influence, demonstrating to central government a more cohesive and collaborative sector.
- Responsiveness to legislative change.
- Risk mitigation around the destiny of the sector specific software, through continuity of supply.
- Effective reporting to central government.
Our
services
Regional Sector Collaboration
RSHL is responsible for the management of funding and delivery for regional sector work programmes supporting Te Uru Kahika.
RSHL:
- Collects funding from councils and central government.
- Engages staff and suppliers to deliver services to achieve the outcomes from each of the programmes.
- Provides portfolio, project, vendor and contract management services.
- Reports to Te Uru Kahika on income and expenditure.
IRIS Next Generation
RSHL and the member councils will replace the IRIS software platform via IRIS Next Generation (IRIS NextGen) within the next 2-4 years.
10 councils are working with RSHL and Datacom on the delivery of the IRIS NextGen Programme, under a partnership agreement.
The IRIS NextGen Programme is governed by the IRIS NextGen Steering Group.
IRIS NextGen will be a cloud-based Software as a Service solution (SaaS) based on the Datacom Datascape platform.
IRIS NextGen will deliver a modern software platform to councils, including an online customer portal and a mobile field application. Along with the software solution, the programme will implement consistent “good practice” processes for the sector, alongside integrated change management.
The IRIS NextGen Solution will:
- Make council staff work easier
- Promote operational excellence and efficiency
- Demonstrate collaboration at a sector level
- Ensure the development of the technical solution is fit for purpose.
IRIS
The IRIS Programme delivers the IRIS software platform. IRIS software has been in use for 9 years at 7 councils.
The 7 councils actively collaborate on the use of IRIS and the future development roadmap.
RSHL and the member councils will replace the IRIS software platform via IRIS NextGen within the next 2-4 years.
The IRIS Programme is overseen by the IRIS Advisory Group. This group agrees the roadmap and sets the budgets for the programme.
The very high-level view of IRIS is that it is a core application system supporting the people, places, business objects and workflow process for core council regulatory functions. It integrates with, but does not duplicate, other core councils’ line of business applications and tools including GIS, EDRMS and Financials.
Ma tini ma
mano ka
rapa te whai.
Many hands make light work. Unity is strength.
Who
We are
RSHL is owned by the 10 regional councils and unitary authorities listed below. We are made up of a Board of Directors, Chief Executive, and nine staff supported by Advisory Groups made up of staff from councils.
Contacts
Mark has worked in the public sector for 8 years and has a background in business improvement, project management and Information Technology. Mark is passionate about helping people working together collaboratively to make things better – for councils, and their communities.
Mike is the Director-Corporate Services at the Taranaki Regional Council and has held this role since March 1997. He also holds roles as a Trustee of the Taranaki Stadium Trust and Chairperson of Regional Software Holdings Ltd.
Mike has been involved in governance roles with RSHL since inception. He has particular interest in the encouragement of collaborative solutions in the regional council sector and delivering benefits to the regional sector that would be unachievable by each council in their own right.
Coralie has worked in the regional sector since 2008. She has a background in project management and information systems and her role as project manager for the IRIS programme involves establishing processes for councils to work together to deliver collaborative solutions.
Tania has worked in the regional sector since 2009 and has been involved with the wider IRIS and RSHL teams since 2012. A strong advocate for working collaboratively across the sector, Tania is currently working with the IRIS NextGen participating councils in the collaborative development and implementation of consistent good practice business processes.
Abi has worked in the regional sector (Te Uru Kahika) since 2015, starting in emergency management and later transitioning to project manager for the Environmental Monitoring and Reporting (EMaR) programme. This collaborative initiative involves Te Uru Kahika, Ministry for the Environment, Stats NZ, Department of Conservation and Cawthron Institute, with a focus on enhancing the consistency and accessibility of environmental data and information.
Key initiatives include National Environmental Monitoring Standards (NEMS) for best practise data collection, the advancement of data management (Environmental Data Management Solution) and telling the story of our environment through the Land, Air Water Aotearoa (LAWA) website.
Resources
FAQs
The Regional Sector (the Sector) is the collective term used for the sixteen Regional Councils and Unitary Authorities of New Zealand. See www.lgnz.co.nz for more information.
For council staff: Te Uru Kahika Projects are normally led by a Special Interest Group (SIG). So the best way to get involved is to contact the SIG convenor. If you’re not sure who to contact, email info@rshl.co.nz and we will put you on the right track.
For Suppliers : We use GETS the Government Electronic Tender Service. www.gets.govt.nz
Regional Software Holdings Limited.
Te Uru Kahika promotes/supports/facilitates collaboration initiatives between regional councils and unitary authorities – achieving more together.
Project Initiation Document – Te Uru Kahika project templates are located in the Regional Sector (SIG) Portal
Special Interest Group within the Regional Sector
IRIS stands for “Integrated Regional Information System”.
IRIS manages core Regional Council functions including the regulatory areas of consents, compliance, Biosecurity and enforcement. The system includes standardised workflow that assists councils in following business processes to meet deadlines.
IRIS Councils collaborate on improvements to the software and their processes.
IRIS NextGen (Next Generation) is the next iteration of IRIS. As the current solution nears the end of useful life, RSHL has started work on a replacement.
The IRIS NextGen Programme places an emphasis on consistent good practice process. 11 councils are working with us on IRIS NextGen.
RSHL is owned by 10 Regional Councils:
Northland Regional Council
Waikato Regional Council
Bay of Plenty Regional Council
Gisborne Regional Council
Taranaki Regional Council
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council
Horizons Regional Council
West Coast Regional Council
Otago Regional Council
Environment Southland
RSHL staff and team members are based all over New Zealand. Usually at the offices of a Regional Council.
Our current Chief Executive, Mark Donnelly, is based in Hamilton.
RSHL is a Council Controlled Organisation (CCO) established by ten regional councils (above), and all these councils are members of the regional council sector.