The new Microsoft Innovation Centre which will be opened in Malta in October this year will see an investment of more than €3 million over a three-year period by Microsoft and its partners, IT minister Austin Gatt said today. This investment will be spent on premises, technologies, staff, and other activities generated by the centre.
Microsoft, he said, had established bold targets for this Centre for the next three years. They include the creation of 100 jobs (as a spin-off of the MIC; not recruited by MIC), assistance to 14 business start-ups, and training for 500 students and 300 ICT professionals.
"I must say that attracting and securing an investment of this calibre towards Malta during the current global economic crunch and especially the crisis in Europe, has been no mean feat, Dr Gatt told a business breakfast for ICT professionals.
He underlined the importance of ICT within the government's growth objectives for Malta and said that Malta must offer the right environment for ICT businesses to thrive, as well as nurture a culture of entrepreneurship so that more and more start-ups set up shop.
"This Centre will focus on Cloud Computing. Globally there are over 100 MICs, but this Centre will be amongst the first to specifically focus on this technology (Cloud Computing). Needless to say, this gives us a jumpstart ahead of other countries for various reasons:
"One of the main activities of the MIC will be to offer specialised training on cloud computing to students, ICT professionals and businesses on a cost-recovery basis. This promises to increase the diversity of the local ICT skills knowledge base, and increase the uniqueness of our local ICT experts."
He noted that there are local ICT businesses that are early adopters and already use the cloud and have developed cloud solutions. However, these companies were a minority.
"Through the MIC, we'll increase the local capacity in cloud computing significantly and enable even those individuals and businesses with less means to gain essential skills to be more competitive."
The MIC, he said, would also offer concrete support to individuals and start-ups with a good business idea. It would provide the necessary expertise, technologies, and facilities to individuals and start-ups to be able to turn an idea into a cloud computing solution that was ready for the local and international markets.
"The MIC will also make networking easier for companies, since it is part of a larger community of MICs located practically across the globe. The MIC will serve as a unique launch-pad for new start-ups. I'm sure most of the ICT businesses here today consider competition fierce, and some have been in the business for at least a decade."
All this, he said, would undoubtedly help help Malta become an attraction of interest on cloud computing in the region.
Dr Gatt said the new centre was a result of the Vertical Strategic Alliance between the government and Microsoft, signed last year.
In October, as part of the agreement, students and teachers were given the opportunity to purchase Windows 7 Professional Upgrade and Office Professional Plus 2010 at a heavily discounted price of €79.79 ( 86% less than market price). 2,747 Office 2010 packages and 1,954 Windows 7 packages were purchased by students and teachers.
The government had also started the roll-out of Live@edu email accounts to teachers and students. Soon all teachers and students at state primary and secondary schools will have an account.