Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/773562
43 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 JANUARY 2017 'GO for the future' partners with Malta Robotics Olympiad GO's recently launched 'GO for the future' fund has partnered with the 2017 Malta Robotics Ol- ympiad (MRO) which will take place at the MFCC in Ta' Qali on 24 and 25 March 2017. This year's Olympiad, organised by the Ministry of Education and Employment will feature a wide range of hands on activities for school children and their families together with a real life, movie scale Wall-E robot. MRO 2017 will also include the first edition of The Big Challenge in which a number of locally built robots will autonomously tackle a chal- lenging obstacle course. Daniela Bagnaschi, Senior Man- ager – Marketing, at GO, said, "Through 'GO for the future', we have committed to invest an ini- tial €80,000 in projects that get children reading and get them interested and excited about sci- ence. Robotics is one area which can really spark off the imagina- tion, and it's also a sector that's becoming ever more prevalent in our daily lives. While GO contin- ues to invest in Malta's commu- nications infrastructure, which will be essential for our future, it's also vital that we also invest in giving children the desire and the skills to make the most of that fu- ture. In this context, 'GO for the future' and the MRO are a perfect partnership." James Catania, Education Of- ficer Computing & ICT at the Ministry of Education and Em- ployment, which is organising the Olympiad, said, "This event brings young people together to develop their creativity and prob- lem solving skills through chal- lenging and educational robotics challenges. This year with the in- troduction of The Big Challenge we will see teams from MCAST, Savio College, the University of Malta, and Middlesex Univer- sity's Malta campus, demonstrate how advanced Malta already is in this sector. The Big Challenge should also prove to be great en- tertainment for the public as the robots being built by participants will need to autonomously tackle steps, slopes, water and uneven terrain to complete the course. Organising an event on this scale is obviously a challenge and we are very thankful to GO for the support they are providing to ensure this year's MRO is a suc- cess." Grant Thornton posts US$4.78 billion annual revenue With a presence in 142 countries, Grant Thornton International closed its financial year as at 30 September 2016 with an increase in annual revenue of 3.3% to $4.78 billion, or 7.8% when reported in local currencies. A considerable increase was also registered in the firm's head- count which now stands at 47,000 people, an increase of over 11.4% when compared to 42,000 at the end of 2015. The largest increase took place in the Asia Pacific with 27% growth. Looking at Grant Thornton's performance by service line, it is worth noting that tax has seen the fastest growth, both in terms of people and revenue. As at Sep- tember 2016, assurance services accounted for approximately 42% of total revenue, followed by advi- sory (35%) and tax (21%). 2016 also saw Grant Thornton reconfirming its status as a lead- ing global employer, which is also thanks to a number of initiatives undertaken by the firm to attract and retain the best talent. Just recently, the US firm received a perfect 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign Foun- dation's 2017 Corporate Equal- ity Index (CEI) – a national US benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and prac- tices related to LGBT workplace equality. Grant Thornton was also named one of the 50 World's Most Attractive Global Employers by Universum, and was recognised as a top employer in numerous coun- tries, including Canada, Sweden, Mexico, the UK and US. The international firm saw new member firms joining in Bos- nia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Rwanda and Slovenia, coupled with M&A expansions in Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Ro- mania, South Korea, Sweden and US. From a development standpoint, Grant Thornton has also intro- duced interactive audit training as well as innovative tax and adviso- ry academies. The organisation's focus on the culture journey and the people experience introduced in 2015, along with its ongoing contribution to local communi- ties through CSR initiatives, have been instrumental in establishing the firm's reputation in the mar- ketplace. Throughout the year, Grant Thornton has also con- tinued to build its infrastructure through stronger tools and major investments in technology. Ed Nusbaum, Global CEO of Grant Thornton International, at- tributes the success of the organi- sation to its 47,000 people and the strong commitment made by the firm in its team. "In 2016 we have continued to place both our peo- ple and our clients at the heart of our global strategy, allowing us to build on our quality, focus on our foundations to create sustainable growth for the future, as well as invest in our most important as- set – our people." And what about 2017? Accord- ing to Nusbaum, 2017 is expected to be a spectacular year for the firm which will see an increased accent on innovation and new ways to deliver a more unique and valuable suite of services and ca- pabilities to unlock growth and create superior value for the firm's client base. Irish workplace award for PKF-FPM PKF-FPM has been voted as the best employer in its field in the UK, according to judges at Lon- don-based industry publication Accountancy Age and the Best Companies Group. The company, founded nearly a quarter of a century ago, won the Top UK Accountancy Employer Award at the British Account- ancy Awards ahead of many other reputed companies. The event was held at the Brewery in London and hosted by come- dian, presenter and actor Rufus Hound. 2016 has been a staggering year for PKF having been recog- nised in a number of prestigious awards including, 2016 UK Em- ployer of the Year Awards at the British Accountancy Awards, 2016 Employer of the Year Award at the Irish Accountancy Awards, 2016 Best Place to Work Award at the The Irish News Workplace & Employment Awards and 2016 Managing Talent Award at The Irish News Workplace & Em- ployment Awards. @ maltatoday We are on Instagram James Catania, Education Officer Computing & ICT at the Ministry of Education and Employment with Daniela Bagnaschi, Senior Manager – Marketing at GO and Stefan Bartolo, Marketing, Communications & PR Manager at GO The company's founder and managing director Feargal McCormack (centre) and the PKF-FPM team at the accountancy awards in London Ed Nusbaum - Global CEO, Grant Thornton