A new hub for digital games was the major announcement related to ICT in the Budget 2013 speech delivered last week by Finance Minister Tonio Fenech. Compared to previous speeches, there was little reference to major ICT-related initiatives except for digital gaming, revealing a ‘steady as she goes’ attitude by the Government.
The Malta Information Technology Agency budget is down from €2.7 million to €1.6 million for 2013
“This hub will bring together developers of digital games, students, digital artists and investors to provide services under one roof. At a strategic level, the hub will attract institutions interested in this area such as Malta Enterprise, the University of Malta and others to work together on the implementation of the national digital gaming strategy.
These will be working to expand this new economic sector and put Malta on the world map of digital gaming,” Minister Fenech said.
Other initiatives in ICT mentioned in the speech are a revision of incubation services to start-ups in Kordin, including the development of plug in/plug out facility for ICT and digital content businesses. This will cost €3.5 million.
There is also a new industrial research project, Lab4MEMS, to strengthen STMicroelectronics’ presence in Malta in collaboration with the Malta Council for Science and Technology.
The minister put these initiatives within the framework of an investment drive made in recent years, including the investment of over €6 million since 2004 in the National Research and Innovation Fund, more than 125 research and development projects assisted through the EU’s FP7 framework (the fourth highest per capita rate in the EU), and the continuation of investment in Interactive Science Centre in Bighi to further attract more people towards this sector. A quick look at the estimate presented with the Budget speech reveals how several ICT-related budgets decrease for 2013 while more revenues are expected in this sector.
For example, under the Ministry for Infrastructure, Transport and Communication, the Malta Government Technology Investments Ltd saw its budget down from €1,260,000 to €950,000 next year; the ICT Academic programmes down from €280,000 to €270,000, and the Malta Information Technology Agency down from €2.7 million to €1.6 million. The Digital Games Fund budget has remained the same with €150,000.
In terms of capital expenditure for this ministry, the ICT Core Services Agreement is down from €16.7 million to €14.2 million and the PC leasing vote is slightly down from €6 million to €5.6 million. However there are two new major items, one called e-Learning with €1.6 million and another called e-Government with €1.15 million. These did not feature in the 2012 budget.
The Malta Communications Authority will be given the same amount of €550,000 but the authority is expected a significantly higher return on fees for rights of use, up from €4,515,000 in 2012 to €5,477,000 next year.
Revenue from excise duty on mobile telephony services is expected to rise slightly from €2.7 million to €2.8 million.
The capital vote for information technology in government schools in the Ministry for Education and Employment is down from €850,000 to €600,000.
The funding of the BeSmartOnline project to create awareness about child safety online is down from €30,000 this year to €10,000 next year.
Yet all these initiatives could be affected if the Budget for 2013 is not approved by Parliament and political events take over, leading to a general election in the coming weeks.
Some interesting trends have emerged from the Budget speeches of past few years
After 2008, Smart City Malta and the term “smart” gradually disappeared from Budget speeches, replaced by ‘digital gaming’.
In the Budget 2009 speech, Mr Fenech had announced that the Government intended to publish plans for the provision of high-speed ‘fibre-to-the-home’ internet access which is available on fibre-optic cables. These plans have not yet been published four years later, though the Government has issued a call for expressions of interest this year and the major local internet providers have been investing in the use of fibre connections in their networks.