In its mission to further promote an information society and economy, the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology is making available once more the eTen programme to local entities.
The ministry's objective is to encourage the ICT industry to grow further. By promoting the eTEN programme, the ministry is helping Maltese industry to increase its competitiveness by benefiting from the funds put aside by the EU.
eTEN is the European Commission's Programme designed to accelerate the deployment of Information Society services with a trans-European dimension.
The programme aims to accelerate the take-up of e-services of common interest to sustain the European social model of an inclusive, cohesive society. Its objectives are at the very heart of the eEurope mission of "an information society for all". It promotes public interest services, which give every citizen, enterprise and administration full opportunity to gain from the e-Society, bridging the digital divide, which threatens to create an information underclass. The aim of the eTEN programme is to contribute to increased competitiveness in the internal market, whose objectives are to establish the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and finance.
One of the success factors of the internal market is a cost efficient infrastructure in the transport, energy and information society sectors.
eTEN supports the critical launch phase of a service so that investors or public authorities can make informed decisions based on a thorough analysis of the economics involved.
eTEN's aim is to support the deployment of e-services in the areas of eGovernment, eHealth, eLearning, eInclusion and Trust and Security services.
The eTEN Call for Proposals 2005 opened on Thursday and will close on May 10 at 4 p.m. The European Community budget for this call is €45.3 million. It is envisaged that the evaluation of proposals will take place during May-June and by the end of September the results will be communicated to proposers.
Projects will then start after November, 2005, February, 2006, after the grant agreements are signed. Participation in eTEN is open to all legal persons, public and private.
For more information on this programme visit the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology Website - www.miti.gov. mt or send an e-mail to Gabriella Briffa Darmanin, National Contact Point for the eTEN programme at the Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology, on eten@gov.mt.