Benefits and principles — GEANZ Standards and Guidance Catalogue
Learn about the catalogue’s benefits and the principles behind creating it.
GEANZ framework
GEANZ (pronounced: ‘genes’) stands for the ‘Government Enterprise Architecture for NZ’, also known as the GEANZ framework. It is an architectural DNA to modernise, simplify, and standardise the public service while making the most of government investments.
The catalogue’s purpose is to make the standards and guidance content available for sharing and reuse across NZ government organisations — particularly when designing and developing digital solutions.
Reasons for the name: GEANZ Standards and Guidance Catalogue
In , the Government Enterprise Architecture Group (GEAG) accepted a proposal to change the name to the ‘Standards and Guidance Catalogue’, which has become the ‘GEANZ Standards and Guidance Catalogue’.
Previous names for the catalogue
Government Digital Standards
GEA-NZ Standards Reference
‘Guidance’ added to the name
The catalogue is a set of standards and guidance, not just standards — so ‘guidance’ was added to the name.
‘Digital’ removed from the name
Successful digital outcomes are dependent on more than just technology, so the catalogue includes categories across a broad range of subjects.
At a level above where digital technology becomes applicable, the standards and guidance can relate to:
service design
business architecture
business capabilities.
For this reason, ‘Digital’ was removed from the name.
Benefits of the catalogue to government organisations
The catalogue allows NZ government organisations to:
have multi-organisational levels of investment and working together — the catalogue focuses on standards and guidance content that are common for all or most NZ government organisations
share links to content they want to allow other NZ government organisations to use
easily find the relevant standards and guidance content that is often spread across many different sources — having the references and links to content in one place saves time for users
catalogue statuses help users figure out which content is right for NZ government organisations.
Example of how the catalogue makes it easier to find content
The catalogue uses categories, located on Data.govt.nz, which are based on the GEANZ framework models:
When adding standards to the catalogue, the Government Enterprise Architecture Group (GEAG) uses these principles to guide the:
selection
status assigned.
Principle 1: User centric
Place the needs of users at the heart of standards choices. Selecting a standard should not impose unreasonable costs on individuals, organisations and agencies.
Principle 2: Open and transparent
Adopted standards should be openly published, developed in a transparent way, freely available, have an acceptable level of use, and be regularly maintained.
Principle 3: Flexible
Make standards choices that support flexibility and change. Standards should enable services to be implemented by a broad range of suppliers.
Standards will form a key part of solution requirements addressing software interoperability, data and document accessibility and interchange, and information security. This ensures that better and more flexible choices are made for service delivery through IT specifications.
Principle 4: Vendor independent
Select standards that enable suppliers to compete on a level playing field. Use of standards means there is no unintentional lock in. Standards potentially allow for large work programmes and contracts to be broken down into smaller components.
Principle 5: Pragmatic
Adopt standards that support sustainable cost. Increased standardisation enables sharing and reuse of IT solutions and components across government. Value for money is achieved through avoiding lock-in and increased reuse.
Another aspect of being pragmatic is adopting standards proven by other jurisdictions or industries without having to prove them in the NZ context first. For the purposes of the GEANZ Standards and Guidance Catalogue, an agency with the recognised responsibility in an area can set the standards for that area. For example, the Ministry of Health sets standards for interoperability within the health sector that are often recognised international health industry standards.
Principle 6: Well informed
Select standards as a result of well informed decision making. In particular, standards selection must avoid cost that may arise if selected standards are:
not compatible with major existing government systems — the exception is that standards are future-focused; in this case existing systems would not be expected to comply to the future-focused standard
not interoperable across various implementations in government
not supported by the market in the short or long term.
Principle 7: Standards compliance
Standards compliance is consistently applied. Agencies are obliged to responsibly self-regulate standards compliance. Where policy demands, an agency or a supplier must comply with a standard and provide evidence to verify or certify that they comply.
Principle 8: International first
Adopting international standards should be first.
If one is not suitable, consider a NZ profile of an international standard, rather than developing local NZ or NZ government standards.
Another option is reusing or adapting a government standard from another jurisdiction.
The cost of developing local standards is prohibitive and can result in standards that are incompatible with the international market for software and cloud services.
