Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1273898
30.07.2020 Steward US headquarters donates 100,000 face masks to Malta STEWARD Health Care's headquarters in the United States has donated 100,000 disposable face masks to be used in Malta and Gozo, espe- cially by vulnerable people, so as to help in the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. e masks were donated during an event held at Stew- ard Health Care Malta's offices which was presided by Dr Na- dine Delicata, Executive Di- rector and President of Stew- ard Health Care Malta. Present during the event were the Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri, the US Chargé d'Affaires Mark Schapiro, the Superintendent of Public Health Prof. Charmaine Gau- ci, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Gozo John Borg, and the Administrator of id-Dar tal-Providenza Na- dine Camilleri Cassano. Delicata said that this dona- tion from Steward US under- pins the importance of the message that, while restric- tions have been lifted, every- one needs to remain vigilant and observe public health measures in our efforts to keep the number of COVID-19 cas- es in the community as low as possible. She said that the donation confirms Steward's commit- ment to the communities that it serves. In fact these masks will be distributed to NGOs in Mal- ta and Gozo, including id-Dar tal-Providenza, to support the efforts made by such entities to contain the spread of the vi- rus and protect the most vul- nerable members of our com- munity. ose present during the event thanked Steward for its gesture and likewise empha- sised the need to continue showing support and care to the community, especially vul- nerable people, whilst comply- ing with the directives issued by the authorities. (Left to right): Superintendent of Public Health Prof. Charmaine Gauci, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, US Chargé d'Affaires Mark Schapiro, Executive Director of Steward Health Care Malta Dr Nadine Delicata, and Administrator of id-Dar tal-Providenza Nadine Camilleri Cassano, with a sample of the 100,000 masks donated T echnological innovation and in- vention are driving the change in the way we work and live. e dawn of a Fourth Industrial Revolution through technological advances such as cloud, artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things, robotics, quantum computing and more, are already trans- forming the operations of the working world and our way of life, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic. e impact of this technological rev- olution on the company secretary's role is no exception. e company secretary primarily needs to have the right mindset for the change and focus being brought about by such techno- logical advancements. is will ensure that the role remains not only relevant to the governance requirements, the expectations of its stakeholders and compliant with laws and regulations, but also a catalyst of change for the benefit of the organisation and society in general. e role of the company secretary is not an easy one to describe. Specific duties are assigned to the company secretary by law, whilst other duties are generally assigned by the compa- ny's governance structure or in the contract of employment. In many instances, the company secretary con- sumes a significant amount of time in allocated administrative responsibili- ties such as compiling notices, regis- ters, compliance returns, agendas, and taking down minutes during meetings of the company and of its board of di- rectors. Such administrative respon- sibilities reduce the capability of the company secretary to direct attention to other important areas such as strat- egy, research, problem-solving, rep- resentation, co-ordination and man- agement of information systems. rough e-transformation the com- pany secretary can do away with tra- ditional office work mechanism and implement e-services such as e-ipo, e-dividend, e-filing and e-groups. Changes to legislation and regulations together with the latest news, updates, case laws and judgements can all be ob- tained nowadays by a click of a button. Communication advancements also present the company secretary with the opportunity to facilitate more ef- ficient board meetings. Traditional board meetings, where all members have to be present physically at the organisation's boardroom to dis- cuss and decide on agenda items, could be replaced by video conferencing fa- cilities. Such facilities reduce travel costs and time, particularly where in- ternational board members or subsid- iaries of organisations are involved. Board portals have also been devel- oped as tools to facilitate and improve governance, efficiency and secure digi- tal communication between the board of directors and company secretary. Better document management sys- tems ensure the possibility of paper- less company secretarial documents make it easier to trace documents and require less physical storage space. Such technological advancements do enable the company secretary (and all workers) to improve not only produc- tivity but also their work-life balance through the release more time for the family and friends. Technological advancements and the company secretary John Sammut John Sammut is Head of Internal Audit at the Malta Financial Services Authority