New Zealand-headquartered information and technology organisation Datacom has purchased Tauranga-based company Origen Technology Ltd.

Origen is a Tauranga technology company that has developed and extensively deployed Ozone, a world-class enterprise software platform for local authorities.

Jonathan Usher, MD of Datacom Solutions, Roy Simpson, CEO of Origen Technology Ltd and Datacom Group CEO Jonathan Ladd.

Ozone manages core functions across regulatory, financial and customer service workloads for the local government sector and is currently being used by approximately 20 per cent of New Zealand Councils.

The Origen team and the Ozone product further strengthens a considerable presence that Datacom has in delivering software, services and infrastructure for local authorities, says Datacom managing director Jonathan Usher.

Datacom has worked with local authorities in New Zealand for over four decades, and today around 70 per cent of councils in New Zealand use software or services developed by Datacom.

'We are delighted to bring Ozone and the terrific Origen team into Datacom,” says Jonathan.

'Our clear goal is to be the partner of choice for the design, delivery and operation of technology based solutions and services for local government – furthering our vision of sustainable councils and engaged communities.”

'In acquiring Origen we now have an even stronger capability in-house to deliver truly end-to-end, world-class and innovative solutions to our local government customers across Australia and New Zealand.”

Origen CEO Roy Simpson says the company is excited about joining with Datacom.

'We are passionate about the local government sector and together we can accelerate investment in the Ozone product, provide long-term security for existing customers and staff, and help even more councils across Australia and New Zealand deliver their services more cost-effectively and sustainably.”

All Origen staff will join Datacom's Australasian-wide Local Government Solutions team and will continue to be based in Tauranga.

'A key near term priority is to ensure cloud deployment options for Ozone as well as regulatory module support for the Australian local government sector, which we expect to be available this year,” says Jonathan Usher.

In New Zealand Datacom's services to the local government sector range from supporting regional council functions such as resource consent processing and monitoring, environmental protection, providing award-winning websites, Intranets and online portals for citizens to interact with councils, assisting field workers with inspections, and automating services such as Land Information Memorandum (LIM) generation and consent lodgment.