IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Surveys carried out by the Malta Communications Authority and Eurostat show that eCommerce activity has steadily improved, especially as more people make regular use of the Internet.

Back in 1999, the biggest concern for those using computers was that the “millennium bug” would stop the world. I recall that in 2000, we were still struggling to establish a government presence on the internet. Email had been in use for a short while and that was the first thing that had an “e” in front of it to show that it had evolved to ride the digital revolution.

The ID cards foreigners living in Malta have in their possession, marked with ‘A’, will expire at the end of November.

The ministry said that the validity of this ID card will be extended for another month. The cards’ validity had already been extended from June to November.

It said PL spokesman Michael Farrugia is saying that in government Labour would take the internet to every home. But according to a survey by the Malta Communications Authority last May, 98% of students aged between 9-14 confirmed they have the internet at home, and 58% of them even have it in their room, the government said.

Parliamentary secretary Deborah Schembri thanked all ministries for their efforts in implementing government's commitment to simplify public processes and reduce bureaucracy

Last week's individual country report by the European Union had been particularly positive in the case of Malta and an endorsement of the government's policies and decisions, the parliamentary secretary for lands said on Friday.

This was Dalli's main message as she addressed the ICT Coalition conference in Brussels. ICT Coalition brings together the major companies in the industry, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Ask.fm and NGO's working for online safety and against cyberbullying.

A few months ago, the Prime Minister had said that the ID cards would start to be replaced by the end of the year, but gave a different answer in his reply, stating that the ID cards would only start to be replaced in the first 3 months of 2012. He said that the necessary system is currently being developed, and should be ready by the end of the year.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi visited the Mosta local council yesterday, where one of the terminals has just been installed. He said the terminals, which involved a government investment of €50,000, are aimed at further facilitating the use of e-government services, as well as offering a large array of other services.

I was recently delighted to launch 16 new EU-funded projects with the aim of improving public services for every one of our citizens. Quality of public services impacts a country’s level of productivity, which in turn is linked to prosperity.

Within this context, and acknowledging that public services which help rather than hinder business and job creation are needed across the EU, the European Social Fund provides financial support in areas of employability, education and inclusion while supporting the implementation of national policy reforms and capacity building in the area of public administration.

The Office of the Permanent Secretary has managed to introduce a total of 249 simplification measures in this last year.

Addressing a press conference at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs this morning, Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar said this marks 80 more measures introduced compared to previous years.

One of the most important measures introduced in 2015 were the setting up of three one-stop-shop centres, called servizz.gov.mt, in different localities.

The ESF-funded project Public Services Online came to an end with a closing seminar addressing citizens, public officials and businesses. During the seminar, addressed by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar, Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth José Herrera and MITA’s Executive Chairman Tony Sultana, achieved results and policy guidelines were presented to guide Government in the development of future eGovernment services thus ensuring that eServices are made easy, efficient and convenient.

The results of the research study on the public’s opinion on the use of public services online shows that the majority of respondents (56%) make use of traditional government services while 28% make exclusive use of eGovernment services. 81% of the public are interested to learn more about public services offered online and 63% actually think that there should be more awareness campaigns.

The contracts signed with 2i, Alert Communications, iLab Malta, Loqus Public Sector and Seasus are worth a total of €2.5 million over the 5-year period.

In 2017, individuals aged between 16 and 74 who regularly made use of the internet reached 271,699 persons, 80.1 per cent of the total population, the NSO said today.

ICT Usage by Households: 2017

All of the 16 to 24 age cohort in the population said to have used the internet in 2017, while individuals aged 65 to 74 recorded the lowest internet usage levels at 40.6 per cent. Survey results show that during the year under review, 83.4 per cent of individuals aged between 16 and 74 accessed the internet away from home or work via their mobile phone. This resulted in an increase of 7.6 percentage points when compared to the previous year.

During the first quarter of 2011, the National Statistics Office said that the majority of enterprises or 97% which amounts to 1,132, which employ a minimum of 10 employees, made use of computers.

The figure increased by 1% point when compared with 2010.

The public service suffers serious prejudice. It conjures up images of a bureaucratic nine-to-five mentality, overstaffed ministries operating in isolation and constant, almost secretive, filing.

In recent years, the public service embarked on various initiatives to improve on delivery and consult with the very reason of its existence: the public.

The tone of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and the head of the civil service, Mario Cutajar, when speaking at the launch of this year’s Public Service Week was positive and ambitious. The initiatives announced deserve closer scrutiny.

Malta has over the last years invested heavily in IT and technology

Technology is one of four pillars, the others being transformation, transition and talent, that should serve as the foundation of a renewed and focused vision for Malta’s economy. Going digital is no longer simply part of how an economy functions – it is the economy.

The reality of COVID-19 has brought to the fore our reliance on technology. Remote working is now a reality for many; online education is the norm for students; web-based meetings have replaced the need for commuting and travelling; and webinars have replaced events. Despite all of this, there is still much more that needs to be done as a country to truly become an entrenched digital economy and society.

After the launch of MyActs last July, another new eGovernment service, allowing legal practitioners to file cases online, before the Administrative Review Tribunal, is to be introduced.

The online service is being made available to legal professions who are legally empowered to present cases before this tribunal.

The system therefore is aligned to Chapter 490, The Administrative Justice Act, which provides a legal framework for citizens and commercial companies to formerly register their complaints when they disagree with the administrative decision taken from any public entity.

Malta is no exception. Digital technology is a pillar of our economy. The digital economy within a digital society is our present and future.

Within this context, the Government, in line with its mandate and the EU Digital Agenda, will spearhead initiatives to create the ideal entrepreneurial climate and leverage investment in technologies and human resources. This will lead to value-added economic opportunities and improvements to social wellbeing.

The benchmarking set out in the Global Information Technology Report is based on a proven framework, developed in 2002 and refined year-on-year, namely the Network Readiness Index. This Index is a composite of 10 pillars aggregating the results of 53 variables aimed at measuring the application and the impacts of ICT. This year’s assessment covered 142 economies: once again, the Nordic countries confirmed their status as advanced digital economies, with Sweden attaining excellent results in all pillars.

The digital economy is an area with untappedpotential for both the European Union and Ukraine. Digital technologies, services and systems are of vital importance for social development and can create growth and jobs in all areas of economy from the smallest, most traditional manufacturer to newly-emerging hi-tech industries.

Take, for instance, digitisation of industry and the way this will reshape the way we live, work and do business. In the next few years, we will see millions of interconnected devices and almost half of the mobile transactions facilitated by people’s phones. Soon, the fastest-growing companies will use smart machines to increase their efficiency and productivity and reduce costs. Traditional sectors of the economy, as well as public administration, will benefit a lot from analytical services based on big and open data. It is in the clear interest of the EU and Ukraine to cooperate closely in the digital matters for the benefit of our economies and societies.