Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1126183
06.06.19 4 NEWS DIAMDEXX has leveraged Mi- crosoft Azure's reliability and secure solutions to develop the diamDEXX wallet. is wal- let enables users to trade using DIAM, the fi rst stable token 100% backed by physical dia- monds – the world's most pre- cious and stable physical asset. DIAM is based on the Ethere- um ERC-20 protocol which promotes security and trans- parency. e ERC-20 protocol also enables diamDEXX to use smart-contracts that embed predetermined rules, allowing users to redeem their DIAM to purchase physical diamonds at the best market price, creat- ing an immutable shared ledger across the entire diamantaire network. In fact, DIAM allows users to choose between 7,000 dia- mond manufacturers and over 800,000 fully-certifi ed stones. diamDEXX has chosen Mi- crosoft Azure as its preferred and strategic cloud provider to tap into the full range of Micro- soft's cloud solutions. Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that off ers infrastructure created by Mi- crosoft specifi cally for building, deploying and managing appli- cations and services through a global network of Micro- soft-managed data centers. diamDEXX already uses Mi- crosoft's services for critical ap- plications and workloads, and is now embarking on a broad set of cloud innovation projects that leverage Machine Learn- ing, Artifi cial Intelligence, and data platform solutions for a wide range of external custom- er-facing services and internal business applications. anks to Microsoft Azure's fl exible, secure, and rapidly scalable global technology, as well as diamDEXX's ability to incentivise digital transforma- tion, both companies commit to promoting and enhancing new technologies to provide users with transparency and security. In announcing the partner- ship, Jeremy Dahan, diam- DEXX's CEO, stated: " is is the dawn of a new era in the cryptocurrency market. We have no doubt that the capabil- ities, infrastructure, fl exibility and, above all, security off ered by Microsoft Azure – as well as DIAM's ability to stay perfectly stable against the US dollar – will enable our platform to off er new, more stable options to cur- rency traders all over the world." Microsoft's Chris Papaphotis, Commercial & Partners Di- rector for Greece, Cyprus and Malta, said that the choice of Microsoft's technology for this project confi rms the strengths and attributes that the AZURE technology provides for such delicate operations where relia- bility is a must. Microsoft is committing to a long-term partnership with the diamDEXX groups, hoping to help the company evolve, grow, and strengthen its off ering in a secure, reliable way. diamDEXX chooses Microsoft's Azure for its new digital wallet & trading platform Massimo Costa MALTA has the second-lowest portion of female farm managers in the Euro- pean Union, with just 6% of all those occupying such a role being women. A report for the European Parliament indicates that Malta is one of only four member states in which the proportion of female farm managers is 10% or be- low, with the other countries being the Netherlands, with just 5%, Denmark at 8% and Germany at 10%. e fi ndings emerge from a study on the professional status of rural women across the EU. On average, around 30% of farms across the EU-28 are managed by a woman. Countries with the highest share of women as farm managers are Latvia and Lithuania with 45%, fol- lowed by Romania, Estonia and Italy with 34%, 33% and 32% respectively. But Malta also has the lowest propor- tion of female participation in informal employment in agriculture – at less than 5% ¬– together with Sweden, the Czech Republic and Germany, proba- bly because of a low share of agricul- ture in the overall economy in these countries. Agriculture constitutes less than 1.4% of Malta's GDP. e highest participation of females in informal agriculture employment was registered in Romania, Slovenia and Greece, with 77%, 54% and 36% respectively. e study underscored that, from a gender point of view, there are signif- icant gaps between women and men in the sector of agriculture in the EU. "Farming continues to be a predom- inantly rural profession and male do- main. Women farmers have signifi - cantly less access to, control over, and ownership of land and other produc- tive assets compared to their male counterparts. However, the number of farms run by women is continuously growing," it said. Despite huge diff erences among member states, an average of 30% of farms across the EU are managed by women. "Female entrepreneurs represent only one third of self-employed people in the EU and women farmers represent 30% of total EU farm managers. " ey tend to have smaller farms: on average 5.84ha compared with 12.88ha owned by male farm holders. Women take more calculated risks than men, yet it is still diffi cult for them to access loans. Women's ideas for innovation are as marketable as men's, but they are not recognised by predominantly male stakeholders," the report adds. Malta has lowest percentage of women working in tourism Tourism is seen as an economic activ- ity that can signifi cantly contribute to rural development and is a major em- ployer of women. Tourism activities in the accommo- dation and food services sector ac- counted for almost 10 million jobs, or 4% of total EU employment. Malta, however, reported the lowest fi gures when it comes to the percent- age of women in the tourism work- force, at just 33%, compared to 38% when it comes to the number of female workers in the whole economy. In contrast, Latvia was the member state with the highest share of jobs in tourism occupied by women, at 78%, as opposed to 51% in the wider econ- omy. Since 2002, the employment rate of women has increased overall in Eu- rope, and the largest increases for fe- male employment rates were observed in Malta, Bulgaria and Germany. But Maltese female pensioners suf- fer a large pensions gap compared to men: Malta's gender pay gap of 11% is below the EU average, still falling short of the lowest rate, registered in Romania, of 5.2%. The 23.5% gap in Estonia is the largest across the mem- ber states. When it comes to the pensions pay gap, however, Malta, along with e Netherlands and Cyprus had the larg- est gaps between the pensions of men and women, at over 44%. e pension pay gap ranges between 1.8% and 48.7% across member states, and on average is around 37.2% for pensioners aged 65-79 in the EU-28. e smallest gender gaps in pensions (below 10%) are in Estonia, Denmark and Slovakia. Malta with one of EU's lowest rates of female farm managers