The eSkills Alliance, Malta Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce are holding a business breakfast on Thursday to discuss the need for particular e-skills and business competencies. The breakfast will be held at the Phoenicia Hotel at 8 a.m. and should end by 10.30 a.m.

As economic realities change and business interactions with customers evolve, more industries require an investment in a sound ICT infrastructure that includes meaningful applications of technology in business processes.

The future of all Malta’s economic pillars depends on ICT. Manufacturing, tourism, financial services and the ICT industry itself will only continue to grow if there is an adequate supply of ICT professionals.

The eSkills Alliance in Malta is focused on increasing the supply of ICT talent equipped with the right skills and competences to meet future demands.

“ICT is both a vertical sector with high potential for growth and employment in its own right and a ‘horizontal enabler’ that can contribute to the growth of all sectors across the economy,” eSkills Alliance executive secretary Fabianne Ruggier explained. “ICT professionals are vital to the operations and future growth of so many important sectors, and being on the ball about ICT can help businesses stay one step ahead.”

The eSkills Alliance is keen to emphasise the need to continue investing as a nation in the generation of high-level qualifications, accompanied by transferable competences or soft skills, such as communication, creativity and entrepreneurship.

“Employers are looking for job-ready people who have a mix of knowledge, skills and abilities,” Ms Ruggier pointed out.

Strong ICT-related skills required by graduates in today’s marketplace include business, commercial, operational knowledge of the vertical sector they are operating in, sound ICT skills in the discipline they may be interested in (such as web development or network engineering), and transferable and soft skills.

The event next week will provide a discussion forum to shed light on what the government, education and businesses can do to better prepare the current and upcoming workforce for the future.

For registration e-mail info@mbb.org.mt or call 2125 1719 by Wednesday. For more information one may e-mail eskillsalliance.mita@gov.mt