Update November 2000: Malta

There was no substantial promotional activity during the summer months in Malta.

1. Organisational awareness of the IS

The Minister for Justice and Local Government, Austin Gatt, and David Spiteri Gingell, CEO at MITTS Ltd, outlined the government’s plans for e-government at a one-day conference organised by Deloitte & Touche, entitled: "Technology - Avoid it, embrace it or manage it?". It was held at the Hilton Malta on September 27. On the occasion of the conference Deloitte published the research study - "At the dawn of e-government: The citizen as customer", which sets forth definitive stages that public sector entities will go through to achieve true e-government and a checklist of recommendations to guide public sector entities through their e-government planning.

2. IS national strategies and action plans

The Minister for Justice and Local Government announced that a recommendation had been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers to set up an Information Society and Economy Commission, which would be empowered to act as the catalyst to transform the island into an information society and economy. The announcement was made at a one-day conference about e-government organised by Deloitte and Touche on the 27^th September 2000.

3. Information Content stimulation

No major initiatives were reported.

4. Other tools for promoting the IS Society

EAN Malta, the Maltese bar-coding and electronic business standards organisation, and the Graduate School of Business of Grenoble (ESC Grenoble), France, signed an international co-operation agreement setting up a Malta centre to run MBA courses in electronic business, offering a degree by ESC Grenoble. A two-year part-time degree course has already been designed for Maltese students. ESC Grenoble is considered as one of Europe’s leading graduate schools in the business/commercial sector. It made a partnership with IBM to offer Europe’s first e-business MBA.

5. Interesting innovative actions/initiatives

Browsers Internet Café, Malta's largest dedicated Internet café, has been launched in Kavetta Street, Bugibba, one of Malta’s leading entertainment areas. Powered by Video On Line(VOL), one of Malta's largest Internet Service Providers, the café' can host more than 50 users at any one time who can access the Internet on a dedicated 512K ADSL line. Other dedicated Internet café’s are being set-up across the country, especially popular entertainment localities like Paceville, Marsascala, Sliema, Valletta, Bugibba and Gozo.