Malta’s efforts to accelerate the development of the digital media cluster and initiatives to create the appropriate environment to foster its growth were the focus of the second Digital Media in Malta conference organised by Malta Enterprise a few days ago.
TRC has recruited around 100 people in a year
More than 30 representatives of companies operating in the digital media and online industry participated, with around half from non-Maltese firms looking to learn more about the business environment with a view to expanding their business here.
Chris Deering, the Special Envoy for the Digital Media Industry, opened proceedings which included a series of presentations outlining the advantages Malta offers, opportunities and support.
Malta Enterprise’s representative Richard Byrne-Price gave an overview of the wide range of initiatives aimed at supporting the industry’s growth and the support offered by Malta Enterprise targeting the creative and online economy. Initiatives include the national video games competition, Gamezing, and the introduction of new programmes at the University of Malta.
TRC Family Entertainment chief executive Paul Taylor said the company had looked at various locations before opting to set up in Malta due to the support from the authorities, their speed of response, and the flexibility of the human resources. TRC has recruited around 100 people since setting up a year ago.
Andrew Davies gave details of Smart City Malta which is being developed to become the region’s leading knowledge cluster, while iGaming Elite chief executive Dean Nicholls spoke about the talent pool and the skills of the human resources available locally and how these can be transferred from one niche sector to the other.
The foreign companies took an active interest in the ensuing panel discussion, which was moderated by digital media consultant Dan Licari and which was addressed by Mr Taylor, Nick Porsche from Rocksolid Games, and Graeme Coyle from iGaming Elite.
A variety of queries and issues were raised by the participants, ranging from fiscal and financial assistance, training and education, the local talent base, operational issues, collaborations with educational institutions, and lifestyle.
The conference programme included a structured networking session during which participants had the chance to meet potential partners and investors.
This was the second international digital media event hosted by Malta Enterprise this year in its efforts to attract growing digital media companies and encourage the growth of the local digital media cluster since the launch of the Digital Strategy for Malta last April.