Infrastructure, Transport and Communications Minister Austin Gatt yesterday said that his ambition for Malta is, “to become rated first in the field of ICT among European Union countries and then be among the top rated countries in the world”.

This was said during the announcement of the job placement scheme for 2008. During this occasion, certificates were presented to ICT students at university, MCAST and others following courses under private institutions, who participated in job placements last year.

Andrea Demarco, president of the ICT student association said, “Students exposed to the work environment start getting a better idea of the ICT industry and the subjects they are studying”.

During 2008, an even number of students will be participating in the job placement programme. “This is a great contribution to the sector in the quest to make Malta a centre of excellence,” the president of ICTSA said.

As from yesterday, private companies were able to register themselves and start participating in the job placement programme for 2008. Minister Gatt said that whenever private companies were asked to contribute, the response was always very good and we should definitely exploit such chances of joint venture with private entities”.

“Today’s challenge,” the minister said, “is to develop enough competences for the needs of our industries”. Such placement schemes are actually resulting in the university and other institutions to change their curriculum making it more inline with the industry’s requirements.

The future of the ICT industry is a shining one. Minister Austin Gatt said that Smart City has projected 8,000 jobs in this field but it is up to us to keep things up. The minister stated: “The future depends on our abilities to adapt to new situations”.

“It is true that ICT is changing the world, but the ICT industry itself is changing

continuously,” Minister Gatt concluded.