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The Malta Independent | Thursday 3 March 2011
ICT Feature
ICT outsourcing – challenges and opportunities Last week MITA held a press event to mark a major milestone in its transformation from an organisation focussed on building Government IT systems to an Agency specialised in ensuring outcomes – the establishment of an Outsourcing Framework. The Framework enables MITA to outsource the maintenance, support and operations of applications developed by MITA to the private sector in a structured, transparent and effective manner. This Framework was developed in collaboration with the ICT industry and will continue to develop in consultation with the industry. Outsourcing is not new to Government or to MITA. In the past few years MITA has completely outsourced the provision of Desktop Services to the public service as well as State schools. This was done through partnering with the private sector to lease about 20,000 PCs and laptops and provide ancillary support services.
The Malta Independent ICT Feature Roderick Spiteri Roderick Spiteri is Marketing and Communications Executive at MITA and editor of Malta Independent ICT feature
As Chairperson of Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b'Diżabilità (KNPD), Mr Joe Camilleri is entrusted with leading a Commission whose aim is to make the Maltese society inclusive for disabled persons. In an interview for the ICT Feature, Joanna Azzopardi asked him about the extent of inclusivity that the Maltese society offers, particularly in the ambit of employment, and the role that ICT can play to help increase the employment prospects of disabled persons
maintain. The outsourcing of these four applications is proceeding as planned through collaboration between the MITA project teams and the selected suppliers. A second batch of applications has already been identified and preparatory work is underway to issue Requests for Quotations to the participating suppliers. This sec-
ond wave will consist of applications that are larger in terms of their user base and complexity. Following the feedback received from the first process, MITA has taken a number of measures to improve its procurement method for this framework. The upcoming request for quotations will include an architectural
document to provide the necessary technical details and other high level business requirements on future application enhancements as well as a technology roadmap. MITA will also be holding technical workshops to allow potential bidders to acquire further information directly from the project teams currently responsible for the ap-
plications. Organisations often view outsourcing solely as a means to control costs or improve service delivery, after having exhausted all other options. We at MITA have a somewhat different perspective. We also see outsourcing as a tangible means to nurture and develop the ICT sector and human capital in Malta.
Malta is the European leader in eGovernment The results of the 9th EU-wide eGovernment Benchmark have just been released, and Malta has come out on top once again.
Ryan Debattista (Consultant) and Mark Debono (Copywriter and User Experience Specialist) - eGovernment Direction, Execution and Operations, MITA.
last week’s announcement of a new Outsourcing framework between MITA and the local ICT industry, we’re publishing an article with further details. The EU has just published the results of its ninth EU-wide eGovernment Benchmark and we’re
therefore running an article about this exercise. We look at the details of each of the six indicators measured by this benchmarking and analyse the results which Malta’s eGovernment services attained visà-vis the other 31 participating countries.
In an inclusive society equal access is a right, not optional extra
The new outsourcing initiative started in March of last year when a tender was issued to identify providers willing and capable of providing software application related services. A total of twelve suppliers are now participating in this Outsourcing Framework and four of these have already been given a number of solutions to
Ryan Debattista and Mark Debono
For this week’s feature we interviewed the chairperson of the Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b'Diżabilità, Mr Joe Camilleri about inclusivity of disable people in Malta and how ICT is helping in opening up new possibilities for employment opportunities. Following
The EU Benchmarking Report is a European wide exercise which ranks countries according to their performance in eGovernment services. This year Malta was established as the European eGovernment leader after scoring top marks in five of the six areas which were measured. For the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), the EU benchmark is a year long exercise and involves close collaboration between various departments and entities. By measuring our work to such an international standard, we can see how we measure up to our European compatriots, as well as identify which areas we are performing ably, and take note of areas in which we require further improvement. The 2010 eGovernment Benchmark analysed the eGovernment efforts of the 27 EU Member States, plus Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Malta was ranked first in five of the six areas analysed. 2010 was the second year running in which Malta was ranked first across more than 27 countries. The Europe-wide report has been prepared annually since 2001 and was compiled by Capgemini, Sogeti, IDC, RAND Europe and the Danish Technological Institute. It covers over 10,000 websites and provides details of Member States’ progress, their best practices and future insights in eGov-
ernment. The 2010 benchmark has evolved greatly from its predecessors and now caters for the dynamic and ever changing ICT ecosystem. The six core indicators measured in 2010 are listed and explained below. Online Sophistication of eServices measured the extent to which eGov-
ernment services allow for interaction and/or transaction between Government and citizens or businesses; Malta scored full marks here. Full Online Availability of eServices takes into account the availability of the 20 basic electronic services; Malta scored 100% in this area, as the 20 Basic Services have been online for a
length of time now. eProcurement Visibility measures to what extent potential suppliers are able to find information and links to eProcurement by contracting authorities. Malta scored 100% in this section too. eProcurement availability is concerned as to how much of the eProcurment process can be carried out online. Malta scored 76% in this area, the only area where maximum points were not obtained, this owing to the fact that our eProcurement solution is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2011. User Experience of National Portals and User Experience of eServices dealt with aspects of usability, transparency, privacy, multi-channel policy and the possibility for users to provide feedback; Malta attained 100% in both the User Experience areas. Other pilot indicators such as lifeevents and horizontal enablers were also mentioned in the report. The first time Malta participated in the EU Benchmarking exercise was in 2004, and there it obtained above average results, although it did not rank amongst the top performers. Since then Malta has leapfrogged ahead, attaining second place in 2007, with 96% scored in Online Sophistication and 91% in Full Online Availability of eServices. In 2009 Malta further
matured its eServices and obtained a full 100% score in the core indicators, placing it in first place with Portugal. Malta’s excellent score in 5 of the 6 core indicators measured in 2010 denotes an outstanding performance across all the indicators. This result shows the benefit of a well-thought strategy along with a successful collaboration with third party suppliers and public entities, who are very much part and parcel of the lifecycle of any eGovernment product. Malta’s efforts in eGovernment were lauded, and the report noted that the result demonstrated the effects of the Malta’s Smart Island ICT Strategy in creating a personalised self-service user experience for citizens. The report also stated that Malta is the only country that scored 100% in both User Experience indicators, while maintaining its 100% score from 2009 and ranking first out of the total of 32 measured countries Malta has shown great progress and maturity in eGovernment through the intelligent and future looking strategies which are cultivating success locally and internationally. The success obtained does not only confirm Malta’s commitment, but also entices us to work harder to continue leading the way in Europe and around the World whilst attracting foreign investment.
Mr Joe Camilleri
• How many disabled persons are economically active in Malta? We do not have accurate statistics about how many economically active disabled people there are in Malta. In previous years the accepted norm was for disabled people to be considered unemployable and therefore dependent on their families and the state throughout their lifetime. However, over the last thirty years things have changed and an increasing number of disabled people are seeking employment and extending their working lives for as long as possible. The introduction of an inclusive education policy in 1994 in all State schools and the increasing diffusion of ICT have meant that disabled people now have better access to a higher standard of education, better training, the will to work and for many - thanks to ICT - the tools to compete on near-equal basis. • Why is it difficult for disabled persons to find employment? A legacy of poor educational provision, an ingrained and widespread social attitude which encouraged a high dependence on welfare benefits and the mentality that disabled people were incapable (inkapaċitati) in every aspect of their lives, helped to fuel unemployment amongst disabled people. A main contributory factor has been the dominance of the so-called ‘Medical Model’ of Disability which views disablement as overwhelmingly a medical/ biological problem and thus one to be pathologised and dealt with on an individual and largely medical basis. With the advent of the ‘Social Model’ of Disability in the 1970s-80s, this mentality began to give way to the notion that the major causes of disablement were social inequalities resulting in socially constructed disabling barriers. Rather than focusing exclusively on changing the individual mentally and/or physically, the Social Model, focused on the need to eradicate barriers, thus minimising or removing the oppressive ingredients which held disabled people back from attaining a quality of life comparable to their non-disabled peers. As the built-environment becomes more physically accessible, equal access is granted to means of communication and information, and as social attitudes towards disabled people become more positive a ripple-effect is created. This ripple-effect is translated into better educational provision, better preparation for adult life, appropriate job advice, training, and on-the-job support are all gradually improving disabled people’s access to the labour market. However, a small proportion of disabled people still cannot cope with the rigours of open market employment as their physical and/or mental impairments are too severe. Our society still needs to cater for this group’s potential productivity and usefulness through the setting up of cooperatives and sheltered employment initiatives. • How do KNPD and FITA help disabled persons find employment? KNPD helps disabled people and their families in general terms, by encouraging them to become more aware of their rights and to be more assertive in insisting that their rights are respected. KNPD does this by implementing the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act of 2000 which categorically outlaws discrimination on the basis of disability. The law also introduces the concept of ‘reasonable accommodation’ whereby a disabled person is entitled to have adjustments made to the job selection process and the manner in which the work is carried out so that their individual needs are respected. The nature and degree of ‘reasonableness’ are usually determined on an individual basis in consultation with KNPD and the employer/ service provider. KNPD
also liaises closely with the Employment & Training Corporation (ETC) with a view to ensuring that ETC’s endeavours with regards to disabled people are as efficient and effective as possible. The ETC is and remains the central agency responsible for employment and training and this includes disabled people. Some progress has been registered, but not enough, especially with regard to employment with private entities where prejudice against employing disabled people still runs high. FITA on the other hand focuses exclusively on assessing, identifying and advising on the procurement of appropriate ICT hardware and software related to education, employment and self-development. Aside from encouraging disabled people to seek training in mainstream environment, together with non-disabled people, FITA also runs its own highly-specific courses. These courses target vulnerable groups which would not normally be catered for in the mainstream classes. Such groups include people with intellectual impairment, profoundly deaf people and blind people. FITA maintains an informal help-line for disabled people (especially blind people) who may need ICT related support. Another important activity of FITA, which impacts the quality of life of disabled people, is its ongoing vetting of local websites to ensure that they comply with World Wide Web Access Guidelines. In this way FITA attempts to ensure that, for instance, blind people can access internet banking. At present FITA is also involved in the development of a Maltese text-to-speech engine which will give increased independence and enhance the ICT experience of nonEnglish speaking Maltese people. • What role can access to technology and ICT skills play in helping disabled persons find employment? It is almost impossible to over-estimate the positive impact which ICT skills can have on disabled people’s potential for gainful employment. Given the increasing diffusion of ICT into our lives together with an almost infinite flexibility and adaptability of ICT as a tool for communication, education and so on, disabled people who acquire marketable ICT skills are now able to compete on an almost equal basis for some, and on a totally equal basis for most employment opportunities. However, all this is contingent upon ICT remaining affordable, accessible and adaptable. The moment one of these ceases, the
gains made by disabled people in this sector will simply vanish. We have already seen this happening once in 1995 when blind ICT users who were amongst the pioneers of ICT use in the disability sector, lost their edge completely when operating systems switched overnight from being textbased to graphical interfaces. It took global pressure and the implementation of anti-discriminatory legislation, like the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) to redress the imbalance. Today, the market is more open and disabled people are able to reap its benefits. • In your opinion, how inclusive is the Maltese society? Compared with many other countries, including so-called First World Countries, Malta is very inclusive. This is probably due to our small size and strong family values. Since we are so small, it’s more difficult for individuals to become effectively isolated. Even though the extended family has severely weakened, occasionally, it still functions to the benefit of its more vulnerable members. Deeprooted fear and prejudice against disabled people remain, but these attitudes are tucked securely beneath the surface of our society, largely unspoken. Thus, while celebrating the general goodwill which Maltese society harbours towards disabled people, we must not become blind to these negative elements. We must persevere in our struggle to gain full acceptance of our rights and our intrinsic value as human beings. • What is required for a more inclusive society that allows disabled persons to participate fully in education, employment and other aspects of life? We need to understand that an inclusive society means just that: inclusive of all of us. In an inclusive society, there is no room for any degree of individualism which excludes the rights of others. Therefore, as a disabled person I must understand that besides rights, I also have social responsibilities, that is, to the fullest extent possible, to give back to society as well as receiving from it. Nondisabled people have to understand that providing equal rights and equal opportunities is an investment in the common good as it renders independence to people who would otherwise have been dependent on the state for their lifetime. Malta is a minute speck on the globe, barren in its natural recourses, but rich in human potential. We are too limited to waste our human resources, non-disabled as well as disabled people.