Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1060184
18 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 DECEMBER 2018 COMMERCIAL The future of smart specialisation DURING the month of No- vember, a series of public con- sultations were organised by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) which brought together stakeholders from various sectors interested in deliberating the country's cur- rent and future Smart Specialisa- tion Strategy. During the events, representa- tives from academia, the private sector, government and civil society were provided with an overview of the concept of Smart Specialisation, which is based on the premise that a country's investment in research and in- novation is conducted using smart, strategic and bottom-up evidence-based policy making. Smart specialisation's role and contribution to Malta's ongoing National Research and Innova- tion Strategy 2020 was also high- lighted, and participants were given the opportunity to discuss and provide input on ideas and priority areas for a new Strategy post-2020. For the kick-off event, Fernan- do Mérida Martín, guest speaker from the European Commis- sion's Joint Research Centre (JRC) delivered a presentation on smart specialisation. He spoke about "the importance of set- ting priorities through a bottom- up entrepreneurial discovery process, supported by strategic promotion of a country's assets, competitive advantages and po- tential for excellence. Smart Spe- cialisation focuses on investing in a country's relative strengths, taking advantage of its econom- ic opportunities and emerging trends, and prioritising areas with high potential to boost eco- nomic growth". Daniel Guerreiro, a policy maker at the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission in Portugal, was al- so invited to provide a first-hand account of his experiences and challenges with the development of Algarve's Smart Specialisation Strategy. Commenting on his own experience and the simi- larities to the implementation of the Strategy in Malta, Guerreiro emphasised the crucial part that stakeholders continue to play in defining and designing a Strat- egy that best fits and matches a country's assets and capabilities, "rather than being a Strategy imposed from above, using the concept of the 'entrepreneurial discovery process', Smart Spe- cialisation requires businesses, research centres, civil society and academia to work together to identify a Member State's most advantageous areas of specialisa- tion, along with those areas that hinder innovation growth." During the various sessions, stakeholders discussed ques- tions relating to Malta's research and innovation landscape, the validity and relevance of the previously identified priority areas and the vision for Malta's research and innovation ecosys- tem post-2020. Participants were also given the opportunity to discuss emerging sectors and topics that could have a lot of R&I potential in the coming ten years, whilst addressing Mal- ta's main challenges. The views expressed, and the feedback given during the events will now be taken forward and used to define the next steps in continuing the consulta- tion process on Malta's current Smart Specialisation Strategy, as well as a new strategy post-2020. FARSONS Group has recently collaborated with MCAST on a co-lecturing seminar for first-year students on the BA Business Enterprise course within the Institute of Busi- ness Management and Com- merce. This seminar was held on the initiative of course lecturer Thomas J. Dimech as part of a series of co-lectures that bring the industry closer to education, with the aim that students get both the academic and the in- dustrial perspective in practice in their fields of study. The first co-lecture in the se- ries focused on organisations and behaviour and included introductions on the topic by MCAST Director David Kenely and lecturers Karl Camilleri, Anthony Padovani and Car- melina Frendo. The lecture was developed and delivered by Di- mech and Mariella Galea, L&D and Performance Manager at Farsons. Study areas included organisational structures, cor- porate culture, motivation theo- ries and management and lead- ership styles. The students had the opportu- nity to understand the relevance of these subjects within a large company and to learn how these are developed in practice within Farsons and the manufacturing sector. "During the lecture one could note the eagerness of students to learn from the industry per- spective in practice. Farsons is always proud to collaborate with MCAST and other educational institutions, contributing to- wards the development of edu- cation, students and the future workforce," said Galea. Farsons Group collaborates with MCAST VIDA, the lifestyle magazine will see some exciting changes as of 2019. The magazine is pub- lished by Focused Knowledge Limited (FKL) who function as the creative division within Fa- malco Group. The main aim of VIDA magazine is to empower people to lead a better, healthier and happier life, while being en- tertained and informed with the latest trends and news. VIDA contains anything which has to do with its lifestyle theme writ- ten by professional writers and contributors. Such segments include general lifestyle, pho- tography, how-to guides, travel stories, experiences related to beauty and fashion tips and trends, interviews with inter- esting personalities, sports col- umns, food recipes, health tips and information, as well as sev- eral competitions. As it stands, the magazine currently circulates on the first Sunday of every month with MaltaToday. The very first is- sue of VIDA was published in January 2010, and it will reach its 108th issue by the end of this year. After numerous years of success, generating over 3,500 likes on Facebook and over 500 followers on Twitter, FKL de- cided that the magazine will be distributed across the country at different homes and businesses in Malta and Gozo. As of 2019, VIDA will be dis- tributed quarterly instead of monthly, featuring the same amount of content but with some aesthetic changes to its overall design. The first issue will be distributed in March, while other issues will follow in June, September and December. In this way, VIDA will become the largest lifestyle magazine in Malta with an estimate of around 175,000 copies circulat- ing for every issue. Representatives at FKL noted that this decision sparked off a need for change in order to ex- pose VIDA more than it already is. Famalco Group's Co-Found- er and Director, Hermann Mal- lia also commented on these changes, saying, "This is a very exciting change for VIDA and we at Famalco are eager to see it continue growing in popular- ity". He added that "We have put our heart and soul into this magazine, and we as a company are very proud of its achieve- ments. It is for this reason that we want to make VIDA big- ger and establish it as the go-to magazine in Malta". For more information about VIDA magazine, contact us on (+356) 2339 2339, email on in- fo@fkl.mt or visit us on www.vi- da.com.mt. You can also follow us on Facebook: www.facebook. com/VidaMag or Twitter: www. twitter/vida_magazine. For ad- vertising opportunities, contact us on (+356) 2339 2407/8 or sales@vida.mt. VIDA is a life- style magazine by FKL within Famalco Group | Building Busi- nesses. VIDA set for Malta-wide distribution