The government is aiming to have every single public service online by the year 2010, said IT Minister Austin Gatt yesterday during the launch of two e-services related to deaths and wills.
Dr Gatt was delivering a joint press conference with Interior Minister Tonio Borg. Dr Gatt said that last time round, Malta was ranked second within the whole EU for the range and quality of e-services offered by the government. “That has spurred us on and we have set these aims so as to capture top spot next time the rankings are issued. To that end, we are looking to announce another 10 online services by the end of the year and many, many more next year,” he said. In addition, he announced that the government would be announcing a new initiative to form alliance with Maltese software producers so as to speed up the process.
The services launched yesterday involve notification of death and will searches. “We will hit a broad spectrum of people with these services,” he said. Putting it bluntly, Dr Borg said: “About 3,000 people die in Malta annually. The fact that death notifications can be made from home will make it easier for those who are grieving, as will the online will-search facility.” He also pointed out that the fact that the services were online would cut response time, meaning that the job could be done quicker.
Dr Borg said the government needed to offer more services so as to make people’s lives easier due to the fast pace of life today. “Having online services means persons can get what they want at the click of a mouse button rather than having to rush and dash from one department to another,” he said.
Dr Borg said the Ministry of Justice and Home Affairs carried a lot of paperwork with it, however it was also one of the departments where e-services were used abundantly, giving passport applications and death and birth certificates as examples. He also said that the government was on track with its plans to introduce biometric passports in the near future.
Speaking about the effects on human resources, Dr Gatt said that e-services reduced the need for manpower in certain sectors. “For example, the Licensing Department used to process all renewals by hand, but when done through a computerised system, we found that we did not need 40 clerks to do the job,” he said. Dr Gatt said that the introduction of such services would lead to reassignment of workers where they could be better utilised.
Asked about lack of trust in computerised systems, particularly from those who are in the more senior generations, Dr Gatt said: “Yes, it is an intrinsic problem of generations more than anything. It is found not only in Malta, but all over the world. The sites are secure, but we need to change this mindset,” he said. Dr Gatt said he did not have an exact formula of how to do so, but said: “We will continue to offer more services and we will keep advertising them and supporting them with information campaigns.” Dr Gatt said some 3,600 Maltese people had an
e-ID while a ballpark figure of 20 per cent was given in regard to those who use e-services rather than manual systems.