The Maltese government was ranked second in a special report drawn up by the World Economic Forum in terms of promoting the use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs).

The results were recorded in the global IT report for 2006 and 2007, and decrees that the Maltese government is the second ranked government in the world “for giving ICT the most importance in its vision for the future.”

It is no wonder that the Industry, Investments and IT Ministry came out blaring its trumpets following such a result, as it confirmed that all its hard work to put Malta on the ICT map is bearing fruit. What is perhaps more relevant is that such a report can only help to increase Malta’s credentials in this respect, and such a positive report on Malta could not have gone unnoticed where it matters.

The government has left no stone unturned to push Malta forward in ICT. It has invested heavily in the sector over the past years, both in terms of infrastructure as well as in human resources, and the results are now there for everyone to see.

Such an investment was also a determining factor in attracting several ICT-related projects to the island, foremost among which is the SmartCity concept that will soon see the light of day after the recent parliamentary approval and the finalisation of the plans. SmartCity, a project that would have gone elsewhere were it not for the government’s foresight and investment in ICT, could also lead to other similar projects in the sector.

Gone are the days when it was said that computers were not needed and were deemed to be unnecessary, and that they would have led to unemployment. On the contrary, the advent of the technological age has created more openings, and Malta would have lagged behind if it had not read the signs of the times.

Luckily, the necessary infrastructure was laid in place and Malta quickly caught up with the rest of the developing world in this respect, and such a report confirms the great strides forward. It is now up to us to maintain the momentum.

This is because advances in technology are an everyday occurrence, and we cannot rest on our laurels as we would soon find ourselves “outdated”. The government, through the IT Ministry, would therefore do well to continuously monitor the situation – as we are sure it does – to keep Malta well in line with new developments.

As pointed out in the government press statement on the WEF report, “coming this far is merely the end of a concerted and coordinated effort by the government to realise the most ambitious vision any government of this country ever had – to become a world leader in the technological stream that is the basis for tomorrow’s economy.” The government must be commended in leading the way in ICT matters, and it led by example in this regard, transforming the way it provided its services to the public through the use of technological means, making it one of the more advanced “e-governments” in this regard as the number of services continued to increase.

The business community must take the cue now, as in this aspect Malta is still relatively weak. This has in itself pushed the government to encourage more enterprises to invest in ICT, believing that “the competitiveness of Malta relies as much on the technological readiness of Maltese businesses as it does on the readiness of the government and the local infrastructure at large.”

Of course, the public plays its part in this too, because it would be useless to have all the ICT infrastructure working to perfection unless the people make full use of it. When one sees the long queues at any bank branch, especially on pay-day, when most of the transactions could easily be carried out online, then it must be admitted that the road is still long.

But we’re getting there.