IFS-Malta in virtual European banking school project

The creation of a Virtual European Banking School (VEBS) is the subject of an EU-funded project that the Institute of Financial Services - Malta (IFS-Malta) has been actively participating in together with nine other European partners since October 2004.

The VEBS project has now entered its final stages and is expected to be effectively completed next month. It aims to build a bridge between the world of education and the banking work environment from a lifelong learning perspective and to enhance professionalism among prospective banking students and bank employees.

Peter Calleya, an IFS-Malta committee member and head of the institute's research unit, who is spearheading the institute's participation in the project, together with Simon Grech, another IFS-Malta committee member, recently gave presentations at a conference in Milan, Italy, to disseminate the project results.

The conference, entitled "CRM: from Education to Competence Development - Building a European Learning Community," was held at the premises of Banco Popolare di Milano. Mr Calleya spoke about the VEBS competence framework for customer relationship management while Mr Grech's presentation dealt with what is necessary to build a European e-learning community.