Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/662335
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 APRIL 2016 17 Events Schools recognised for their work to protect students online THE Malta Communications Au- thority (MCA), in collaboration with the eLearning Department, has organised an event to officially recognise schools that have at- tained the eSafety label accredita- tion. 55 schools have been presented with a certificate reflecting the lev- el achieved which varied between bronze, silver and gold which is a reflection of the policies and pro- cedures in place to protect their students online. Each accredited school was also awarded with a wall plaque to be affixed at their school. The certification ceremony took place at St. Thomas More College Middle School in Tarxien with the presence of the Minister for Educa- tion and Employment Evarist Bar- tolo, Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth Jose' Herrera and the MCA Chairman Edward Woods. In every country, young people are carrying with them increas- ingly powerful access devices and are linking to social network sites, building their own online commu- nities and creating and sharing con- tent. In this day and age, restricting the use of technology in order to protect young people is not only an impractical solution but also coun- terproductive to their formal edu- cation and overall development. To support schools in their endeavour to allow students to enjoy the vir- tual world safely, European School- net has set up the 'eSafety Label', a European-wide accreditation for schools. This represents a major step forward in the drive to develop and maintain high standards of eSafety and provide practical solu- tions to this challenge. One of MCA's responsibilities is the advancement of a digital soci- ety, including the safe and smart use of the Internet by minors. Over the past years, the Malta Commu- nication Authority, jointly with the Office of the Commissioner for Children, Aġenzija Appoġġ, and the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education, has been coordinated the implementation of BeSmartOnline!, a project co- funded by the European Union. As of January this year, the MCA has furthered its work in this field by being recognised as the national administration of the eSafety label. "The MCA, together with various partners, has been on the forefront in raising awareness on the risks associated with internet use. This initiative has provided another avenue through which this objec- tive can be reached whilst further sustaining the efforts being made by the educational sector to ensure that children make the most of the technological opportunities they nowadays have in schools" said Herrera. Schools wishing to attain the cer- tification may do so by logging into www.esafetylabel.eu where they will be guided through a number of services including a self-assess- ment mechanism which will be fol- lowed by a personalised action plan guiding them to strengthen their policies and procedures in this re- gard. Furthermore, accredited schools can benefit from a wide range of resources and from an online com- munity which will allow them to exchange ideas and experiences with their foreign counterparts. Schools wishing to get more infor- mation can visit www.esafetylabel. eu. In case of any queries they may contact the Malta Communica- tions Authority on 2133 6840. BeSmartOnline! The BeSmartOnline! programme is a national initiative that con- certs the efforts of various national stakeholders working towards the establishment of a Safer Internet Centre in Malta. This project is co-funded by the European Union through the Safer Internet Programme, which aims at empowering and protecting children and teens online through numerous awareness raising initia- tives. It also strives to raise aware- ness and educate children and young people, parents, carers and educators on the safer use of the internet by children and to pro- vide support through a helpline by calling 179, and provide a hotline through which the public can re- port illegal online content on www. besmartonline.org.mt Celebrate Spring in Dubai with Emirates Holidays FROM a quiet and relaxing break, to a new exciting adventure, Dubai is a dream getaway for every type of traveller, and within reach on Emirates with special packages for travel between 6 May and 30 September 2016. Emirates Holidays, the tour operating arm of Emirates, has launched holiday packages start- ing from €503 per person inclu- sive of airport taxes excluding vi- sa charges. Travellers can choose from 4 and 5-star luxury hotel packages which include meet and assist on arrival, return transfers, Ameri- can breakfast and return Economy Class airfare M a l t a - D u b a i - Malta. Travellers can also enjoy a va- riety of discount and upgrade options with the range of hotels on offer. Renowned for its iconic skyline, warm Arabian waters, gourmet dining options and nearby desert adventures, Dubai exceeds visi- tor's expectations at every turn. From family fun options such as water parks, marine animals, amusement rides and parks to so- phisticated shopping, innovative restaurants and five-star luxury, no traveller gets bored in this cos- mopolitan city. Some of the hotel options in- clude the 4-star Doubletree By Hilton Hotel where customers pay for two nights but stay for three, or a range of 5-star hotels such as Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah with an offer to stay for three nights, pay for two offer and kids go free. Many more hotel options are available and packages can be extended to more nights. Emirates operates daily sched- uled flights between Malta and Dubai with convenient onward connections to 150 destina- tions in six continents. Flights from Malta to Dubai operate via Larnaca in Cyprus, on Mondays and Wednesdays. EK 110 departs Malta at 3.30pm and ar- rives in Dubai at 1.00am the following day. The return flight EK 109 departs Dubai at 7.55am and arrives in Malta via Larnaca at 2.10pm. On Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, flights depart Malta at 4.25pm on EK749 and arrive in Dubai at 11.50pm. The return flight leaves Dubai at 7.25am and arrives in Malta via Tunis at 2.40pm. Terms and conditions apply. For more information, please contact Emirates Sales Office on tel: +356 2015 1717/+356 2015 1520, the local travel agent or by visiting www.emirates.com.mt SAP Forum Malta: Reimagining business for the digital economy SAP is holding the SAP Forum, on 19 April 2016, at the Westin Drag- onara Hotel. Entitled "Reimagine Business for the Digital Economy", the Forum will share real-world experiences as well as the latest predictions from industry ana- lysts, with customer showcases and hands-on demos. There are many reasons for at- tending the event, the most impor- tant ones being that you will be able to: • Build a customized road map for digitizing your business • Explore emerging trends and in- novations that enable you to Run Simple • Discover first-hand how SAP customers are successfully embrac- ing digital transformation • See the latest solutions from SAP and its partners • Build connections and share ex- periences with peers across leading organisations Delegates to the SAP Forum Malta will see how SAP S/4HANA represents the digital business foundation of the 21st century and is helping drive the digital transfor- mation across industries, business functions, and roles with the ulti- mate in sophistication: simplicity. In addition, you will learn how SAP solutions can enable you to change the game by anticipating & driving better business outcomes with Pre- dictive Analytics. Through CRM Software - SAP Cloud for Customer, which will be also presented, you can learn how to reach your customers at all points of their journey, and boost loyalty by responding to real-time data to deliver the best possible customer experience -SAP Hybris Marketing. By using SAP HANA and Internet of Things, you will also discover how to build mobile apps quickly to deliver business value and integrate with existing processes to reimag- ine your business with new prod- ucts, services, and business models. The SAP Forum Malta is ad- dressed to management and busi- ness decision-makers in all sectors of economic activity, irrespective of company size, and to executives wishing to be kept up-to-date with the latest technology innovations and solutions that will power their businesses in the digital economy. The event is powered by IDC, and sponsored by Datatech and De- loitte Constulting. For more information and to view the event's agenda visit tinyurl. com/gvqx5cr There is no entrance fee for the event but online registration is es- sential. Visit tinyurl.com/z2babsd to register. Neymar Jr's Five tournament well underway NEYMAR Jr's Five – the global 5-a-side football tournament from Red Bull and the Barcelona star Neymar Jr – is well underway with National Finals already held in 10 different countries around the world. Last weekend, it was Spain's turn to see who will represent them for the World Finals in Brazil. The event was held in Barcelona and the Spanish finalists were stunned with a surprise visit from Neymar Jr himself, who spent the whole day watching the games and later presented the awards to the final winners. Over 30,000 players will be tak- ing part in this event that will be organized in over 40 different countries, including Malta. The qualifier in Malta will be held on the weekend of the 23 and 24 April at the Luxol Grounds. Teams can sign up on www.ney- marjrsfive.comand find more in- formation on the Facebook event page 'Neymar Jr's Five - Malta'. School representatives at the certification ceremony