Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1078260
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 3 FEBRUARY 2019 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MITA is currently in the process of starting to host workloads on the newly set up Hybrid Cloud platform. Most of the technical work has been completed and we are now aligning the operation- al, billing and governance processes to put us into a position to make maxi- mum use of this investment. The hybrid cloud will be an engineer- ing toolbox for designing cloud native applications and will help us introduce DevSecOps processes into our devel- opment and service provisioning pipe- lines. It also provides us with the tools re- quired for architecting agile and secure solutions, which can scale on demand. We strongly believe that the cloud lowers the barriers to innovation and supports modernisation. We will therefore be driving forward a multi-cloud strategy which will enable us to make use of different cloud plat- forms. We will also create a cloud services digital marketplace for government that will provide a framework through which cloud services may be procured. We are strengthening the enterprise architecture and cloud onboarding functions to make sure that solutions are designed according to industry best practices and make best use of our plat- forms. Our state of the art Tier-3 datacentre is also at the heart of our digital trans- formation journey. We are transitioning to hyper-con- verged infrastructure where our data centre will be predominantly software defined with infrastructure as code tak- ing a central role. There is still a lot of work to be done in this area, but the aim is to increase the value of our data centre and extend its agility and capabilities with complimen- tary cloud inspired technologies. We need to make sure that our data centre as the capabilities required to support Government in its digital trans- formation and its exploitation of emerg- ing technologies. Data is the new currency through which we can add real value to citizens when they use government digital ser- vices. We will develop an integration strat- egy for an API led government integra- tion. We need to identify the value of data sets and make them available in mean- ingful and secure ways. It will also be important to create data collaboratives where different stakeholders in our country can share data which can be used for the com- mon good whilst respecting privacy and sensitivity. We have now started the process of redesigning legacy core applications re- lated to taxation and social security and transforming them into cloud native applications. Other domains will be following suit because we believe that the citizens are empowered consumers and their digital interactions with government need to MITA's ambitious plans MITA is embarking on several modernisation initiatives intended to keep the government's information and communication technology infrastructure and services in the leading edge of technology and innovation. JONATHAN CASSAR, Chief Technology Officer, illustrates how technology and innovation are at the heart of government ICT modernisation