Dr Gatt said Malta had come a long way and had managed to attain all the target set in Malta’s first ICT strategy for 2006 and 2007. He said the My Potential scheme was “very successful” in attracting all those who wanted to start a career in the ICT sector.
The second ICT strategy for 2008-2010 will be more difficult because now the standards are much higher than they were when the first strategy was launched.
Referring to a few of the targets the government was proposing, Dr Gatt mentioned an aim to continue increasing the number of ICT graduates which have already risen from 280 three years ago to over 600 this year. By 2010, the government is aiming to increase this number to 1,500 by 2010.
The government is also aiming to continue rolling out services provided over the internet so that by 2010, 500 government clerks will be assigned to other duties because the service they would have been providing was not available online. The government is also aiming to increase the 90 per cent of services already available online to 100 per cent.
Another target is to attract at least 200 companies to Malta from places such as the Far East and the Indian sub-continent and thanks to this investment, create another 4,000 ICT-related jobs.
Dr Gatt insisted on the need of a “collective effort” to make broadband cheaper saying that according to research, the price is one of the main reasons why internet penetration in Maltese households is not higher.
He said that following the opening of the Mater Dei Hospital, the government was now aiming to make patient history available on an e-health system which would also be accessible by every general practitioner from the comfort of their clinic.
Furthermore, the IT minister said the government was aiming to have electronic identity cards available by 2010.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Matthew Xuereb
Quelle/Source: Times of Malta, 22.11.2007
