ICT business has potential

Information and communications technology, or ICT, is an area of our and the EU’s economy, which already generates a high proportion of wealth and which will invariably continue to grow. The vision that the local industry had been nurturing since the early 1990s, that of moving ICT from a position of a “supporting infrastructure” to other industries to become an economic pillar in itself, has started to happen.

Over the years, efforts have been ongoing within the ICT business section of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Enterprise to promote and represent the sector at all levels and in making sure that this vision comes to life.

In recent weeks, these efforts were sustained by meeting first with the leaders of Malta’s main political parties to present our views on how we would like to see our sector develop to the next level.

The main points we made where:

National Consensus on ICT: The industry notes the general consensus on ICT economic activity and its future potential between all political forces in the country over the last years. We encourage all parties to continue to work together in a similar spirit to that afforded to financial services so that this area is left out of political controversy.

More quality ICT resources: The most critical success factor in seeing through this vision is the development of enough ICT professional resources to be able to sustain growth. More needs to be done at all levels of education and, in particular, curricula at primary and secondary schools need to be, with immediate effect, embedded with core science and ICT subjects. The ICT institute at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology needs to be refocused on specialised hands-on vocational training and not turned into a second University; and the e-skills Alliance, with the active participation of industry, has been a very effective forum and should be strengthened.

Government ICT should be outsourced: The ICT business section is pleased to note the policy shift over the last years, from the government building an internal team of ICT professional to an approach adopted by most modern governments, that of outsourcing work to the private sector. It notes that this not only makes the process more efficient and less costly to the taxpayer but also allows industry to grow competencies and experience in projects that can then be exported. The Malta Information Technology Agency should remain the entity providing governance and managing contractual relations and should never revert back to being a competitor with private industry.

Excellence ine-Gov services: In the last years, Malta has been at the forefront of introducing e-Gov services, repeatedly scoring first in pan-EU scoreboards. The ICT business section sees this as a very important project, which should be maintained.

Innovation and industry support: The ICT business section is a firm believer in the fact that enterprise and economic growth are generated and driven through private sector investment, entrepreneurship and healthy competition. It is, however, also cognisant of the fact that the government can play a role in stimulating growth and innovation in the sector through focused initiatives, which will incentivise private sector to invest.

Foreign direct investment: The ICT business section views FDI in ICT as a positive contribution that is welcome as it generates economic activity in the sector. It also builds more momentum for the industry as a whole and contributes towards the development of ICT based clusters.

International markets: Equal importance needs to be given to the local industry which, by delivering its services and products outside of Malta, can create a lot of economic activity. The support that can be given to encourage more of these companies to look beyond the domestic market is an important element in our growth as a country. There is a growing number of local companies successfully winning business overseas and this should be supported.

ICT Malta: The ICT business section believes that it is now the time to take ICT economic growth to a next level. It has proposed the setting up of a high level organisation, on the same basis as Finance Malta, to focus on all the aspects of generating wealth through ICT. There are a number of initiatives underway, handled by different entities, and the proposal is to consolidate such efforts under one, industry-driven, umbrella. The final aim is to put Malta on the international map as an ICT centre of excellence.

The response gained from the abovementioned meetings was indeed very encouraging. The economic players now look forward to working positively with all the stakeholders in the field to ensure that this important sector of our economy continues to flourish.

The author is the chairman of the business section of the Malta Chamber of Commerce , Industry and Enterprise.