Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/640308
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2016 II Information Technology A strategy for digital development FOLLOWING the change of Government in 2013, Malta adopted a digital strategy for 2014 – 2020. The strategy put forward a number of guiding principles and actions for ICT to be used for socio-economic development. It set out how ICT can make a differ- ence in areas of economy, employment, industry and small businesses, and how it can be used for national development, to empower citizens and transform govern- ment. It encouraged everyone to reap the benefits that ICT bring, that is, better edu- cation, stronger businesses, efficient gov- ernment, sustainable economic growth and much more. It suggested that it was essential that the benefits of this nation's knowledge society are enjoyed by every citizen irrespective of age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, education, econom- ic means or race. The strategy suggested this could be achieved through interven- tion to circumvent obstacles and action was needed to enhance digital literacy and social equality, increase access for all and stimulate local content. Technology is an inescapable reality that infiltrates every part of our lives. It usually dictates how we do things and undoubtedly improves our lives by mini- mising our mundane tasks, allowing us more time to dedicate to more significant activities. The last century has seen tech- nology advancing in leaps and bounds, because of the silicone chip. For instance, in just a decade, the cell phone jumped from our science fiction screens into the hands of millions of consumers with an unprecedented hunger for the technol- ogy. Prices dropped dramatically in a very short period to quickly make it one of the most affordable electronic consumer products on the market. Not quite as flam- boyantly as the cell phone, the computer has gone through a comparatively quiet revolution in design. It took less than half a century for a computer that once filled a room to come down to a size that now fits a laptop. With this came advancements in programming, the Internet, audio and video formats and peripherals. Strategies that before were unaffordable had sud- denly been made affordable, owing to the versatility of the Internet. Precisely because it is a medium for all kinds of information, the Internet made economic sense. Through a single me- dium, we could suddenly communicate information on health, agriculture or busi- ness, pass on news, educate students, and send mail to individuals. All of these in the form of text, pictures, movies, music and voice messages. It almost seemed that the Internet was as vast as the imagi- nation of the people who were using it. The underlying principles of Malta's digital strategy Malta's digital strategy has 10 underlying principles underpinning it. These are: 1. Ensuring all citizens are offered the possibility to benefit from ICT as a fundamental right, 2. Advocating proactive leadership, and delivering programmes that meet needs, 3. Supporting national priorities in line with government policy, the National Reform Programme and the EU obligations, 4. Engaging the private sector as an important player in the delivery of the Strategy 5. Optimising value and accountability, 6. Ensuring collaboration between stakeholders to make the best use of national strategic information assets, encourage synergies and minimise fragmentation, 7. Encouraging a more environmen- tally friendly society through greener procurement, implementation and application of ICT, 8. Supporting and enabling R&I in identified areas of strength, capability and centres of excellence, 9. Adopting an open and experimental mind-set, capitalising on lessons learned from success stories and respecting best practices and inter- national standards, and 10. Maximising opportunities from multiple funding sources, including European and international funding programmes and the private sector. This Digital strategy outlined three strategic themes - Digital Citizen, Digital Business and Digital Government. It aims to improve the wellbeing of citi- zens and civil society, including the most vulnerable and minority groups, will ben- efit from a higher standard of living. Basic digital skills will empower citizens to seize opportunities presented by technology and digitisation. Digital services will be affordable, secure and accessible to all regardless of skill and economic means. Local digital content will be encouraged. It also wants to transform the way busi- ness operates. It suggested that Digital Malta will increase competitiveness and boost the attractiveness of local industry. It would promote more start-ups, attract foreign investment, enable strategic alli- ances, encourage investment and nurture niche service providers. Business was encouraged to exploit the opportunities of the European Digital Single Market and Malta's strategic location in the Mediterra- nean, with ready access to the European and North African markets. Businesses were also reminded of Government's strategic alliances with foreign ICT organi- sations and the opportunities it provides to expand into new or bigger markets. It also aims to enhance the delivery of Government through better application of digitisation that would result in reduced bureaucracy, increased efficiency and transparency. Used correctly the public service would be closer to civil society and enterprises, as well as improve the government's decision-making process- es. It aims to facilitate open Government and eDemocracy. On-line government services will be more accessible through the use of smart devices and mobile- friendly applications as well as websites and social media. Government's techno- logical capabilities will be widened to in- clude open-source, cloud computing and big data concepts. Information sharing across government systems and services will be promoted, as will be the re-use of public sector information by third parties. These are supported by three strategic enablers: regulation and legislation, infra- structure and human capital. The strategy recognises that the govern- ment's direction and priorities at a strate- gic and digital policy level are of central importance. It predicts that regulation and legislation will ensure that we will realise an empowered digital society. It promotes good ICT governance, with judicious use of resources and participation by all stakeholders and adoption of international best practices. The strategy suggests that infrastructure services need to be accessible, reli- able, secure, affordable and resilient. It highlights the need for disaster recovery where appropriate. It also suggests that investment by private sector, will ensure fast broadband, WIFI, next-generation ac- cess and robust government information systems architecture. The third enabler is that of human capi- tal. It notes the importance of investing in people to ensure the supply of eSkills to meet the future needs of different sectors. Action will be taken to develop a high quality specialised skills base, maximising employment opportunities, with an em- phasis on increasing female participation and tackling inequalities. Bridging the digital divide Digital Divide has been equated to the gap between the 'haves' and the 'have- nots' in the world, the rich and poor. Now people are falling into another two cat- egories, referred to as the 'knows' and the 'know-nots'. It is not a coincidence that the 'haves' and the 'knows' and the 'have-nots' and the 'know-nots' are usu- ally the same categories of people, for a very simple reason: wealth gives one ac- cess to knowledge and knowledge gives one access to even more wealth. In the last two decades we have learned that it would not be enough to give Internet access to people eve- rywhere; one will need to make sure that people can make optimal use of it for their own and their community's benefit. With the advent of the Internet, amazing new opportunities presented themselves. However one needed to strategise to ensure one could reap optimal benefits from the technology. With Malta's digital strategy in place, the country has the foundation of capitalis- ing on the digital opportunities. The task now is to put the machinery in action to implement it. Mark Borg