Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/887355
47 Events maltatoday SUNDAY 15 OCTOBER 2017 Assisting Malta Guide Dogs Foundation MALTA Public Trans- port announces a col- laboration with the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation, through which the latter are be- ing provided with iden- tity tags for both Guide Dog Mobility Instruc- tors and Orientation and Mobility special- ists. These tags will allow individuals oc- cupying such designa- tions to travel for free on public transport while on duty. Malta Public Trans- port's aim is to provide a convenient service that caters for the trav- el-related needs of its numer- ous customers. Thanks to this initiative, the company shall support the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation's work in helping visually-impaired persons to become daily commuters. Leone Sciberras, Chairman of the Malta Guide Dogs Foun- dation, thanked Malta Public Transport for allowing guide dogs in training to use pub- lic transport as part of their familiarisation with the local transport network: "It is vital for blind and visually impaired people, both those with a white cane and with guide dogs to have access to the public trans- port network." "The MGDF is fully commit- ted, with the support of the Or- der of Malta (S.M.O.M.), to con- tinue working to enable visually impaired persons to be more in- dependent and to increase their mobility. Through awareness training sessions, we are confi- dent that more public officials will learn how to approach a blind person and know how to act also when that person is accompanied by a guide dog," Sciberras continued. "Malta Public Transport is happy to support MGDF. We ac- knowledge the benevolent work being done by this organization and would like to contribute to their cause in the best of ways", added Malta Public Tranport's Commercial Director, Daniel Grech. He explained that the company's aim is to make travel as easy as possible for all mem- bers of the public, with further research being carried out in order to determine ways and means to assist visually-im- paired commuters. Innovation starts from within! FIMBank achieves positive rating from Sigma Ratings NETREFER launched the first edi- tion of the Malta Innovation Sum- mit on Friday at St Julian's Westin Dragonara. The summit's aim was to accelerate the innovation move- ment both in Malta and globally, by gathering all stakeholders and sharing real-world experiences, ideas, trends, processes and best practices. Attendees participated in a full day of keynotes, presentations, expert panels, workshops and networking opportunities that ex- plored the best methods of adopt- ing innovation. The team at NetRefer started with focusing on injecting an ele- ment of innovation within their organisation, but once the build- ing blocks were formed the team at NetRefer realised that this concept should be shared on a national, international, personal and gov- ernance level. NetRefer aimed to create a different conference en- vironment, where each attendee takes home his or her own ap- proach to instil an innovative cul- ture at the stated levels. Throughout the years, NetRe- fer has won multiple international awards relating to innovation, as well as its customer-focused strate- gy. The company has grown organi- cally, starting with one product 12 years ago, and diversifying its prod- uct line this year with multiple new products to satisfy client needs. This success was a result of the innovation management practices adopted over the past few years. NetRefer's aim was to share these practices with other companies who are passing through the same/ similar/prospected organisational growth in a bid to enhance the cur- rent business ecosystem to cater for innovation. Whilst these types of conferences are usually organised by event plan- ners and event organisational com- mittees, this one is led by market- ers, tech-nerds, data scientists and AI experts who firmly believe that innovation cannot flourish in silos. Johan Zammit, Director of Strate- gic Initiatives at NetRefer said, "As a team, NetRefer has always focused on implementing multiple methods on adopting an innovative culture within our organisation. We hope this summit inspired and strength- ened the concept that innovation is an integral part in creating success at all levels within a corporate and personal environment. Let us all move forward and strengthen the innovation movement locally and across shores." FIMBank has achieved a positive rating from Sigma Ratings follow- ing a comprehensive review by the US-based specialist. The entity is- sues annual ratings on company- level financial crime risk posture, and utilises cutting-edge com- puter science to generate daily risk a p p r o x i m a t i o n s on companies around the world. It has pioneered a technology-driven approach to under- standing non-credit counterparty risk, evaluating inherent risk and control effectiveness data, to gen- erate financial crime vulnerability ratings. Whilst most control sub-areas were rated as 'strong', the over- all rating places FIMBank in the upper quartile of Sigma's 'satis- factory' rating band. Sigma also classifies FIMBank's outlook as 'positive'. Commenting on the Bank's recent achievement, FIM- Bank Group CEO Murali Subra- manian stated that "Sigma's rat- ing is consistent with the recent affirmation of our 'BB Rating' and Stable Outlook by Fitch Ratings. It is the outcome of the enhanced risk management framework adopted and encourages us to in- vest additional time and resources to seek further progression." Subramanian explained that over the past years, FIMBank has implemented a number of man- agement and operational reforms, and boosted investments aimed at improving its financial crime compliance posture across the en- tire Group. "This has led to a dramatic shift in culture, one which places a par- ticular focus on financial crime risk management and compliance. In line with guidance we receive from our Board, we have contin- ued to adopt a group-wide "zero tolerance" policy on compliance failure." For more information about FIMBank plc, visit www.fimbank. com. GO investing in excess of €100 million in the next five years GO plc is investing in excess of €100 million in the coming five years to ensure that its infra- structure and systems reflect technological developments and continue to serve the growing de- mands of the Maltese community and economy. This investment is additional to a further €240 mil- lion, which was invested over the past decade. These investments have resulted in unprecedented benefits for the Maltese consum- er and economy, which is highly dependent on a robust and resil- ient ICT infrastructure. This new investment pro- gramme is already delivering sig- nificant results. GO is currently upgrading its two submarine cables that connect Malta with mainland Europe via Sicily. These upgrades, led by a team of GO en- gineers, are near completion, and will more than double the data capacity of these links. During a visit to GO's Head- quarters by Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat, Attila Keszeg, Chief Executive Officer at GO plc, said, "GO has steadily and consistently invested in Malta's communica- tions infrastructure and we will continue to do so over the coming five years as we strongly believe in the future of communications services in Malta. Past invest- ments have led to the roll out of FTTH to Maltese homes and a double certification as the fastest and most resilient mobile net- work in Malta. The national in- frastructure, however, is just one part of our story. International connectivity is equally important for Malta's entire economy and we need to ensure that our inter- national cables have the capac- ity and resilience to handle the growing data demands of both in- dividuals and businesses. As the only operator in Malta with more than one submarine cable, the doubling of capacity of our exist- ing cables represents a significant step forward in helping Malta to fulfil its vision in the technology and innovation sectors." GO is also evaluating the fea- sibility of creating a new link with an existing submarine cable which currently links Tunis with Marseille. This would further strengthen Malta's international connectivity by further increas- ing data capacity as well as the security of supply. It would be the first link that is not entirely de- pendent on mainland Italy.