Software giant Integrated Business Systems, better known as IBM, and the Investment, Industry and Information Technology Ministry yesterday launched 17 internships for IT graduates in IBM’s outlets around Europe as part of the Vertical Strategic Alliance into which the Government entered with IBM last year.

Dr Gatt said that in July 2006, the government and IBM had signed a vertical strategic alliance (VSA) that aimed to continue placing the future of Malta’s economy in the area of information and communications technologies (ICT), the knowledge economy and the information society.

IBM Business Development Executive Carlos Maria Drago explained that there will be four internships at IBM’s Tivoli Lab in Rome – a software development laboratory that has the world-wide mission of developing and maintaining software products. This is offered for IT graduates to give them a first working experience inside the ICT industry.

There will be 10 internships provided with IBM Business Consulting Services in Spain and Switzerland, which consist of consultants who apply innovative thinking, practical tools, services and high-powered technologies. This is open for IT and Business Administration graduates.

There will be two summer internships with IBM Haifa Research Lab in Israel. This lab hosts over 600 employees who contribute towards the innovative capacity of IBM in various areas. These will be open to a Degree or Master’s graduates in Computer Science.

One internship will be offered at IBM Haifa Research Lab. People holding a Master’s degree or a PhD in Computer Science, or who are in the process of completing their PhD, are eligible to apply.

Mr Drago said that Malta’s agreement with IBM was a win-win situation for both.

Dr Gatt pointed out that the government has used all the leverage it could to forge alliances and agreements with multinational software companies.

“We know that the country can change through knowledge economy and that the problem of knowledge economy needs to be addressed directly,” he said.

Furthermore, he added, it is important that Malta does not adopt an insular mentality.

“Graduates need to go and study and work abroad to widen their vision on the world,” said Dr Gatt. “These internships are extremely important and groundbreaking for the country.”

Technology was made available where it was needed: schools, in the economic sector and in work, he said.

Dr Gatt said that, the first time that Malta had been included in the Economist Intelligence Unit e-readiness index, it had come 24th out of 69 countries, and ahead of several EU countries, namely Italy, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Greece and Hungary.