We live in a world where Information and Communication Technologies are pretty much part a part of our daily lives. According to Horizon 2020, which is the European Union’s financial tool in securing Europe’s competitiveness, the ICT sector represents 4.8% of the European economy and investments in ICT account for 50% of all European activity growth. For the period of 2014-2020 Horizon 2020 has around €80 billion of funding available. Even Malta has stood to reap the rewards related to Horizon 2020.
Since Malta’s entry into the EU, the Nationalist Party in government at the time already had a clear vision for the island in this respect, embarking on its “Smart Island Strategy” soon after. The aim of this strategy was to make Malta one of the top 10 information societies in the world. In order to make this plan a reality, Malta had to forge a knowledge-based economy in order to create new jobs in the high tech. The country would then become a first class ICT cluster and media capital by attracting and hosting such companies, providing an operational environment of cutting-edge technologies and infrastructure facilities to those same companies.
It was also during this time that we saw the inception of i-gaming and financial services companies to our islands. These two sectors have boosted the Maltese economy throughout these years. In 2011 Malta became e-government leaders in the EU and we have since retained this spot, whilst in the rankings of the World Economic Forum, Malta ranks 29th worldwide when it comes to ICTs for inclusive growth. All this became possible and ultimately become a reality, because the Nationalist Party had a strong and long term vision for the country. And now in Opposition, we are not sitting on our laurels, but are still working to make Malta better and greater through ICT.
Our vision for ICTs includes a major leap forward. We have achieved our target to make Malta a digital nation and now we want Malta to become a digital hub. It is not enough for Maltese people to have a mobile or broadband connection but we want to connect people, businesses, villages and the whole country into one holistic and integrated infrastructure in order to create more economic growth.
We understand that the Maltese economy is made up of small and medium sized enterprises, so we want to help these same businesses grow and embrace future technology. We understand that SMEs need all the help possible, especially during their formative years and we want to give them access to ICT know-how and the latest technology right at their fingertips.
Whilst handing out our document, “Policy for Retailers”, I had the chance to meet several shop owners who all referred to the competition they are facing from online shopping. As a party we know that this is a scenario which is part and parcel of the digital world, but we are also very committed to make shop owners aware that investment in ICT technology can actually help counter this same competition.
We also believe that digital technology needs to be at the heart of education in order for this process to fully succeed. In this respect, a PN in government will strengthen ICT knowledge from the very early stages of education right up to tertiary education and MCAST. We also want our students to have the opportunity to learn coding which is the typing of step by step commands for the computer to follow. We want to put ICT at the heart of our education so that our young of today will become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs.
For this reason PN wants to launch a five year programme that aims to support and nurture young, local entrepreneurs to develop new digital services that can service business, private individuals and also the public sector. The PN in government will also commit itself to acquire 25% of its digital services from young enterprises that will take part in this programme.
As pioneers and great believers in bringing other sectors to Malta that have shaped and boosted our economy, we are now committed to making the next leap forward in the ICT revolution. We know that this island’s greatest asset is its human capital and by concentrating on our work force in the years to come, we can empower our industry to shape the ICT sector by shifting gear to other industries such as fin tech which incorporates digital financial services and digital health.
The Nationalist Party in government and in Opposition has always shown that it was the party that was at the forefront in creating jobs and driving the economy forward. Through our document “An Economy for the People”, we are now pledging our commitment, that when in government, we will ensure that people are at the heart of the economy and guarantee to turn Malta into a digital nation.
This in turn has the capacity to create economic niches that will establish Malta as a regional digital hub, providing electronic platforms, bringing European companies to set up base here and also tapping into the North African market that is right on our doorstep.
Simone Aquilina
PN candidate on the 11th and 12th districts