30 November - 6 December 2000

Developing an eMalta

The New Dolmen Hotel, Bugibba, was the venue of a conference organised by MITTS Limited earlier this month. The aim of the event was to present government’s vision and strategy for attaining eGovernment. Additionally the event was to serve as a forum for discussing the implications of ecommerce in the different areas of industry, economy and society. The following is a summary of the findings/reports by the various speakers at the conference.

International connectivity
The issue of international connectivity and its inherent high costs figured prominently in several of the speakers’ presentations. Malta constitutes a small market of bandwidth users. The resulting situation is that of a chicken-and-egg problem. Unless the number of bandwidth users increases, the costs of international connectivity cannot decrease. This is compounded by the fact that the process of liberalisation of the telecommunications sector has only just begun, and Maltacom plc are currently the sole owners of the international fibre optic link to the European continent through the island of Sicily.
Prof. Juanito Camilleri stressed that the fiscal incentives offered to foreign companies were often proving insufficient when coupled with the by far uncompetitive international connectivity rates.
Mr Frank Leiter of Melita Cable plc aired his company’s availability to partner with other key players who have a social and commercial interest in seeking alternatives for the benefit of competition and consequently affordability.

Submarine cable
Christian Sammut provided some compelling figures regarding the problem of international connectivity. The cost for a turnkey 2.5 Mbps submarine cable to Sicily having an estimated life span of up to 25 years was approximately Lm15 million. Based on a estimate of current usage, the cost would translate to Lm 600,000 per annum or Lm420 per annum per Mbps utilised.

Additional submarine links
In relation to the submarine link to Sicily, Joseph V. Tabone solicited the realisation of a second link for the benefit of both competition and contingency; and a further one to the south and east in order to maximise business opportunities.
Generally, the availability of online services brought many advantages to the disabled. In some cases though, the reverse was true. Just like the onset of Visual User Interfaces became a threat to blind computer users, the advent of ecommerce and eGovernment could in some cases lead to a similar situation for some disabled.
This paradox was poignantly exemplified by Joe Camilleri. The key players, therefore, should be careful to avoid that eMalta did not raise new barriers for the disabled.
In this respect funding for special IT equipment and software for the disabled was difficult to come by, and in some cases overlooked by many institutions.
Mr Camilleri invited MITTS to investigate whether its strategy for ecommerce afforded compliance with the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act.
The need to have a common vision and strategy, top-down leadership, and a wide awareness and acceptance for the need for change were a common denominator to most of the speeches and presentations.
Eric Embleton and Ann Steward cited their experiences in their respective governments in circumventing the natural tendency to resist change (cultural idiosyncrasies, fiefdoms, etc). Education, training, partnering, bidding for funds from a common budget resource pool, the establishment of architecture standards were all mentioned as valuable means to overcome barriers.
Ms Steward’s presentation contained valuable “lessons-learnt” information based on hands-on experience in the UK government. The following are some highlights:
• the need to use jargon-free language in communicating ebusiness strategies and to seek exactly what citizens need in terms of services (services to match the way people live and work: the so-called “life episodes”), and consequently to prioritise the rollout of online services (e.g. a pilot project of four life episodes).
• TV benefits from the highest market penetration – people’s comfort in using this medium should be exploited as a start
• interoperability of government departments and services
• redefining the boundaries of government and new intermediaries: the packaging of government content as part of a service
• indirect access through kiosks and libraries for the purpose of inclusivity
• common data standards and an open standards approach ensuring the integration of legacy systems
• an eGovernment strategy must take the shape of a “living” document that is reviewed and rewritten every six months

Resourcing
The insufficient availability and competition for skilled resources in ICT was acknowledged by most speakers and the issue figured prominently in the Prime Minster’s speech. The issue is exacerbated further by the poaching of personnel by offshore companies establishing themselves in Malta or directly by overseas firms. Fears of a “net brain drain” was mentioned in this respect by Mr David Spiteri Gingell.
The active participation of the University of Malta was called for to rectify the situation by increasing the number of IT graduates per annum. The Irish example was invoked as a model to emulate: Ireland’s universities had in the space of a few years increased their output of IT graduates from a mere 300 annually to 6,000.
It was recognised that through ICT education pupils and students became an effective means to help in mobilising the necessary critical mass – in their eagerness to satisfy their children’s educational needs, parents acquired PCs and internet accounts, and in the process were themselves encouraged to acquire a greater familiarity with the digital world.
Charles Mizzi outlined three categories of people having different potential and different developmental needs with respect to digital literacy. For example, while Group A which included graduates and undergraduates had the potential to produce information in addition to consuming it, Group C would require a given system to be adapted to their needs accordingly.
Ms Steward mentioned an incentive in Britain that consisted of granting tax breaks to companies that loaned PCs to their employees. Other incentives were heavily discounted training and refurbished computers for low income families.

Benchmarking
The need for a benchmarking exercise was highlighted by Henry Alamango and Mr John Sullivan in relation to the resourcing issue and the fierce competition for resources.
“The magnitude of (our) ICT skills shortage and the time-frame required to solve it” had to be established.

Empowerment of citizens
The internet was bringing about greater empowerment of citizens as a result of the relative ease and difficulty in exercising some form of censorship or control on the vast volumes of information exchanged.
Even in the third world ICT was “eroding governments’ ability to control and regulate”, Mr Alamango said. While the role of government was shrinking, that of civil society and markets was growing. The information society increasingly possessed greater capabilities to influence governments.
Mr Alamango highlighted that as a result of globalisation progress is to be measured in relative terms rather than in absolute ones. A number of developing countries that had taken a proactive approach in ICT could soon be in a position to become strong competitors for Malta. Mr Alamango mentioned examples such as Jamaica and Uganda that could soon translate to real GDP growth. Malta must therefore move very fast.
To cope with the massive organisational change needed for eGovernment senior Public Servants needed training in Information Management (Dr Hugo Agius Muscat).
It is safe to say that all speakers acknowledged that more than a technological upheaval the digital revolution was bringing about a profound organisational change – it was the “development of new ways of working”.
The digital explosion had created a new form of illiteracy. And that to reach the goal of full digital emancipation, governments had the social obligation to ensure that the needs of all members of society were catered for (the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled, the lesser educated, etc.). Nobody was to be excluded (the concept of inclusivity).
The change did not only impact citizens making use of online services, but also people manning the departments that were to provide electronic services. Public servants had to be prepared to accept the change with an open mind.