ABBYY transforms New Zealand’s citizen & frontline emergency services with document AI & intelligent automation

PEX Network’s key takeaways:

• ABBYY and Desktop Imaging are using document artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent automation to transform New Zealand’s public sector.
• The companies have helped Wellington City Council and Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) automate key processes.
• “The tangible benefits citizens in New Zealand receive are a testament to the power of AI-powered automation.”

ABBYY and Desktop Imaging are transforming New Zealand’s public sector with the power of document AI and intelligent automation.

The companies have helped Wellington City Council and FENZ fully automate manual administrative work, meet new regulatory mandates, and improve operational efficiency, allowing frontline teams to better serve their communities.

“The tangible benefits citizens in New Zealand receive are a testament to the power of AI-powered automation and the collaboration between ABBYY and Desktop Imaging,” commented Bruce Orcutt, chief marketing officer at ABBYY.

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Wellington City Council accelerate rates rebate process

In response to new regulatory mandates issued by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) in early 2025, Wellington City Council needed to rapidly modernize its manual rates rebate process.

The Council implemented ABBYY Document AI via Desktop Imaging’s DI Automation: Rates Rebate Service, enabling full automation of form validation, eligibility assessment, reporting, and document retention, stated a press release.

To date, more than 800 applications have been processed with zero manual data entry, delivering 100 percent regulatory compliance. Following thorough planning and testing, the cloud-based solution was deployed in just days, with no additional IT infrastructure required.

“By using purpose-built AI for intelligent automation, Wellington City Council have eliminated manual bottlenecks and ensured every application is processed accurately and on time,” said Stephen Beighton, director at Desktop Imaging. “Our expertise in New Zealand local government processes was invaluable in customizing the solution to meet Wellington City Council’s specific requirements and Department of Internal Affairs compliance standards.”

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FENZ achieves accuracy and processing speed goals

FENZ processes tens of thousands of invoices annually across more than 650 stations. Manual handling and legacy systems caused delays, errors, and compliance risks.

ABBYY Vantage is deployed as part of Desktop Imaging’s DI Invoicing cloud service to automatically capture, classify, and extract the data from invoices to feed the DI Invoicing validation engine for business rule validation, fraud checks, and IRD-compliant workflows.

The result is dramatically reduced manual processing, real-time compliance, faster payments, and scalable automation without additional infrastructure or staff. 

“Improving accuracy and speed were top priorities for FENZ as we needed to adhere to new payment time reporting requirements,” said Kris Elliott, solutions specialist at Desktop Imaging. “By deploying ABBYY technology as an integral part of our DI Invoicing service for customers like FENZ, we improved accuracy, data quality, compliance, and speed. The outcomes have been immediate – faster payments, greater transparency, and more time for their teams to focus on supporting the communities they serve.”

All Access: Future of BPM 2026

You asked, and we listened. Business process management (BPM) remains the cornerstone technology for driving organizational transformation, according to the survey results featured in the latest PEX Report. As we look toward 2026 and beyond, generative AI, agentic AI, and intelligent process orchestration are redefining how processes are designed, executed, and optimized. BPM is your key to adapting swiftly and effectively in this new era.

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