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MISSION STATEMENT We will formulate and implement digital policies, infrastructures and solutions to assist Government to further improve socio-economic prosperity. MITA will enhance its services to help implement the Government agenda. Through policy direction and the adoption of new technologies the Agency will proliferate and attain a more connected digital Government. The Agency will adopt a dynamic approach within its business and technical functions, and coordinate work with stakeholders to assist Government in its mandate of improving the social and economic wellbeing of society.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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01.
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
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02.
BOARD MEMBERS
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03.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
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04.
ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENTS DAY
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05.
ENGAGED AND COMMITTED WORKFORCE
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06.
OUR WORK DEMONSTRATES OUR DEDICATION
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07.
MITA CARES
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08.
BOARD MEMBERS’ REPORT
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09.
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT
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10.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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01. EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT
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Information Technology proliferation in the Public Sector has along the years immersed in all areas of Government operations through the deployment of information systems that automate and manage diverse business processes. We have upgraded technologies and kept the solutions aligned with changing business needs. Legacy systems, which proved so capable to address their business function for so many years, are now becoming obsolete. We have therefore invested in modern technologies since we believe that the benefits of replacing outdated technology far outweighs the risks of maintaining these legacy systems. With a strong vision ahead and a technology roadmap, 2019 has put us on the path for the implementation of the transformational changes required through the modernisation of our Data Centre infrastructure technologies. This came as a result of implementing a Hybrid Cloud setup that makes use of both on-premise MITA managed Cloud resources, as well as public cloud services. Irrespective of whether utilising the on-premise private cloud, the public cloud, or a mix of both, the available resources can meet the diverse information systems and the associated data requirements, thus meeting the security, data classification and data residency needs. We are adopting different strategies for the modernisation of Government information systems, including rebuilding or replacing solutions as suits best. We are seeing modernisation as a long-term strategy embracing it as a cycle and not as one-time project. With the use of DevOps practices, we are bringing our software development and operations teams to collaborate closer together throughout the entire systems lifecycle, enabling them to build, test and release software faster and more reliably. With the prioritisation of the deployment of modern workplace technologies to the Government userbase, we are ensuring that the right set of digital tools are available for them to connect and work seamlessly irrespective of their location. These tools allow for better productivity, engagement, and collaboration. Moreover, we have kept our email platform aligned with the provider’s product path ensuring full product support, high availability and security. Backing the implementation and maintenance of the different infrastructure platforms to meet the digital demands of a modern public service ecosystem, we have the capability of our skilled and talented resources that take these challenges and convert them into great successes. The driving force behind our success is our workforce passion and energy for technology driven change.
Tony Sultana Executive Chairman
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02. BOARD MEMBERS
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Left to right: Joseph Noel Agius, Dr. Aron Mifsud Bonnici (Board Secretary), Ing. Saviour Baldacchino, Dr Helen Borg Muscat, Tony Sultana (Executive Chairman), Anthony Borg
Today, the Agency has positioned itself as a national asset, providing critical Information Technology (IT) services to Government. With pride, we own this responsibility and diligently invest to keep our infrastructure to continuously meet the growing and evolving demand of a modern Public Administration. We have along the years been partners in success to become and maintain leadership amongst our European peers, in eGovernment services and more recently in deploying emerging technologies such as the Hybrid Cloud, whilst implementing complimentary procedures and policies for managing such infrastructure based on international standards. The latter also through the assistance of international consultancy firms that aid us to augment our knowledge and capabilities to manage solution effectively. We have constantly prioritised information security in all our implementations and were pioneers in setting up security and governance structures to protect Government digital landscape. 2019 saw an unprecedented investment in security tools widening our capabilities to better assess, prioritise, detect, and respond to information security threats. Our security tool set now features Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities that can augment threat intelligence through machine learning. We continued to support the Public Administration in devising strategies for digital transformation and are partnering with our clients to implement solutions that deliver quality public services through modern technologies. We have further empowered our clients by making available a powerful Process Automation Platform that can facilitate automation through the implementation of workflow processes and forms, enabling them to master their digital transformation. We have introduced new IT Self-Service Portals giving our clients control of everyday services, ranging from a more secure instant password reset to the provisioning of Cloud Services. We have also deployed a new Identity and Access Management Solution enabling us to facilitate access to IT resources and increase governance and security. This include technologies such as single sign-on, multi-factor authentication and privileged access management. The determined commitment of our employees to embrace new technologies, learn both through formal and hands-on training, has enabled the Agency to continue to augment the accumulation of internal intellectual capital to new heights. We are proud of our employees and their unwavering passion for technology and drive for successful results.
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03. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
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Left to right: Ivan Alessandro, Wayne Valentine, Ian Bonello, Emanuel Darmanin, Priscilla Bugeja, Tony Sultana, Jonathan Cassar, Pierre Vella, Robert Galea, Efrem Borg, Jesmond Mizzi
We are in the midst of the implementation of our Strategic Plan for 2018 – 2020, a strategic programme that will see through the achievement of major shift in technologies and transformation of our business operational processes. We are enthusiastic to implement our Agency’s modernisation plans that will allow us to attain new heights. We will achieve this with the aid of technology while leveraging our knowledge and human capital to provide more value to our clients. 2019 was fulcrum to the definition of the requirements for the implementation of a fully-fledged Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) system. We consider this as being our organisational backbone that will optimise our business processes and will provide full integration with our operational arms, bringing forward increased automation. We introduced a Hybrid Cloud platform for Government and provided self-service access to our clients to build, deploy and manage their implementations. We further invested to enhance our Service Desk, Network Operations Centre and Security Operation Centre services with technology tools and resources to have better visibility and in-depth insight of Government digital landscape, including availability, performance and security. The continuous upkeeping of our complex digital landscape requires the systematic implementation of changes through a structured change management process. In 2019 a new modern IT Service Management Solution based on international good practices was also introduced. Along with the continuous delivery of our commitment ranging from the provision of infrastructure, security, information systems and consultancy services to enable Government digital transformation, we continued to reach out and engage with the students, academia and start-up accelerators. Our continuous investment in the Student Placement Programme, the Emerging Technologies Lab and the Innovation Hub are examples of MITA’s commitment to invest in our students and support the local ICT society. We pride ourselves in being able to develop new solutions, as well as support existing solutions, integrating them with emerging technologies and reaping their benefits for increased digital transformation in public service delivery. We do this while following international best practices aimed to enhance quality of our deliverables through a process of continuous self-evaluation, correction and improvement of our operations and processes. MITA’s governance structure is supported by committees focusing on technology, projects, services and risk management. The work of these committees, in tandem with the commitment of our employees, were again pivotal for the successfully attainment of another recertification audit. We truly believe that the success of the Agency relies on the strength of our employees. Technology provides us with the opportunity to exploit our innovation strength as a corporate team to guarantee the provision of a modern technology platform for service delivery, as well to remain a lead driver for digital transformation in public service.
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04. ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENTS DAY OUR HISTORY, OUR JOURNEY AND OUR FUTURE
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This year’s Annual Achievements Day held on 6th December 2019 brought together images and reflections of our past in preparation for 2020 - the year that will see the Agency celebrating its 30th Anniversary.
04.1 Our History 2019’s Annual Achievements Day was focused on celebrating Our History, a history accentuated by years of hard work, achievement and excellence. The Executive Chairman’s introductory speech together with the Department Head’s presentations were focused on varied, yet important aspects of our past. Some looked at the technological achievements of the Agency within the context of a very fast paced technology arena that changed dramatically across the years. Others looked at the personal journeys that happened in parallel with organisational changes and transformations. Some preferred to share their experiences of changing work, business models and arising challenges. The need to interact, work and have fun together were also matters for reflection during this important day. MITA management and employees have always worked together as a team towards achieving common goals. The Agency has always embraced an innovative viewpoint towards augmenting teamwork through the adoption and adaptation of team building activities. In recent years, the Agency has invested in Corporate and Social Team building events that have improved the working environment whilst pushing its employees to open-up to new ideas, employee diversity and a changing culture. Every year the Agency, through the Achievements Day, promotes these activities. In fact, during the 2019 Conference, the Agency was reminded of the past team building initiatives and the recent Corporate Team Building Programme - launched in 2017 and concluded in the 2019 Achievements Day.
04.2 Our Journey The Executive Chairman concluded the 2019 Achievements Day with a vision of what is to come. 2020 will see the Agency celebrating its 30 years with several social and charitable events including significant milestones that will continue changing the image of the Agency to be forward looking and futuristic. A Value Infusion Training Programme is planned for the same period as well as a new take of the Corporate Team Building. The Chairman closed the 2019 Achievements Day by setting an appointment for December 2020 to give direction and a glimpse of Our Future to come …
04.3 Awards and Recognition During the Achievement Day celebration, a number of employees received a Departmental Award for their outstanding contribution, respecting our values and for going above and beyond expectations in their conduct, work ethic, dedication, and respect toward the client and colleagues.
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Departmental Awards Employee
Office / Department Award
James-Emanuel Stivala
Executive Chairman’s Office
Charles Said
Chief Technology Office
Julian-George Agius
eGovernment & Corporate Solutions Department
Daniel Farrugia
Facilities Management Department
Adelaide Grixti
Strategy & Business Department
Jonathan Busuttil
Infrastructure Services Department
Darren Muscat
Programme Management Department
Joseph Grech
Programme Management Department
Danielle Vella
Finance & Contracts Department
Ryan-Emanuel Bugeja
Information Security & Governance Department
Brian Borg Tabone
Service Management Department
Yaneis Buhagiar
Service Management Department
Team Award Team Name
Team Members
Hybrid Cloud Platform Implementation Team
Joseph Grech Roderick Stoner Wanis Elabbar Mateusz Falkowski Karl-Vince Sammut Alan Brincat Kester Stoner Keith Aquilina Joseph Grech Rudiger Ellul
Executive Chairman’s Award Employee
Award
Malcolm Mizzi
Chairmans Individual Award
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Executive Chairman’s Team Award Team Name
Team Members
Cyber Defence Incident Response Team
Reuben Gauci Antoine Debono Robert Muscat Martin Camilleri
ICT Technical Fellowship In 2019, MITA established a new Technical ICT Fellowship Status with the aim to recognise a highly distinct group of ICT experts who constantly shape and deliver ICT excellence. It is intended to honour individuals with the highest possible level of achievement in the ICT field that will be meaningful also outside the boundaries of the Agency. The first employee that was awarded Technical ICT Fellowship Status is Mark Captur.
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05. ENGAGED AND COMMITTED WORKFORCE
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The Agency has always upheld the highest standards in terms of HR practices and methodologies. The Investors in People accreditation attests these practices and the continuous work done in this regard.
The wealth and strength of the Agency lies within our people. MITA, through its talent management mindset, its ability to attract, hire, retain, and develop talented employees, foresees the continuous achievement of our defined goals as outlined in our strategy. This is only possible through the practice of HR principles that promote employee engagement, relationship building, meaningful and challenging work, fair remuneration and rewards, and good work life balance..
05.1 Our Values 2019 was distinguished by a re-evaluation of the current set of Agency Values: People, Empowerment, Client Focus, Continuous Improvement, Professionalism. This re-evaluation carried out by representatives from all MITA departments was subsequently discussed and approved by the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. The new MITA Values were launched on the 2019 MITA Achievements Day to read as follows: •
PEOPLE…We are vital to the success of our Agency. We respect one another and our diversities. We communicate effectively, honour our commitments, embrace teamwork, and value individual ability and equity. We nurture individual well-being and our environment.
• EMPOWERMENT…We take decisions within our roles and responsibilities. We promote accountability, efficiency and effectiveness to attain our highest potential. • CLIENT FOCUS…We partner with our clients to attain mutual success. We seek to provide our clients with excellent customer care and value adding services, whilst enabling them to become more self-sufficient. • CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT…We believe there is no limit to our improvement. We are forward looking and seek to achieve this through the adoption of innovation, ongoing development and harnessing of employee potential. • PROFESSIONALISM…We are committed to deliver excellence. We achieve this in our work and interactions with stakeholders through the application of accumulated knowledge and skill, ethical behaviour and quality delivery.
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05.2 Upward Feedback MITA is an open organisation that promotes and believes that employees should openly express their personal opinion and concerns. MITA encourages employees’ positive attitude and constructive feedback as these can influence management decision making. Formal performance appraisals have long been introduced by the Agency, providing the ability for Managers to provide feedback to employees. In 2019, MITA formalised the concept of upward feedback. Management sees this as a great opportunity for their improvement, as it provides feedback on their management style, practices and attitude. In contrast, employees are given the opportunity to comment on the management styles of their direct supervisors, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement.
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05.3 Team Building MITA operates from two main locations, primarily the Head Office in Blata l-Bajda and the Data Centre in Sta. Venera. The challenge of having employees working from different locations prioritise more the need for team building events. Through team building employees get to know each other in a more informal way, have fun working together to organise and / or participate in informal activities. It aims to bring employees closer together, help teams work more effectively, and identify gaps and strengths so that teams collectively succeed, overcoming constraints such as time, resources and work pressure. This year’s team building programme included a mix of both corporate team building, as well as team building activities led by employees.
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06. OUR WORK DEMONSTRATES OUR DEDICATION
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The myriad of diverse project engagements throughout 2019 demonstrate the capability and commitment of MITA’s employees to actively adapt to new practices and technologies. Our engagements show our collective mixture of skills, abilities and expertise to design solutions and services for Public Administration to enable the delivery of high quality services. Our dedicated team of professionals brings an informed perspective to drive initiatives that enable our client to attain their IT based strategic commitments.
06.1 Workflow Automation One of the main areas of work in 2019, focused on the replacement of the old eForms solution with a modern platform that will enable MITA and the Government of Malta to address its eServices and Workflow requirements for the coming years ahead. Work on the new Workflow Automation Solution commenced in 2018 were the programme collectively focused on the research and acquisition of the solution. The implementation, testing and acceptance, training and go-live occurred in 2019. The solution, which is funded under the CONvErGE ERDF programme, was launched in August 2019 and is already hosting a number of eServices. The use of this solution is expected to increase since new eServices are being built on this platform and others are being migrated onto it. The Workflow Automation Solution was the first major solution to be hosted on MITA’s Hybrid Cloud.
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In September 2019, MITA was invited by the solution provider to attend the product European Partner Summit. During the proceeding, MITA together with the solution provider, presented a case study about the project’s implementation. Toward the end of the event, MITA together with the supplier, was presented the distinguished ‘Most Exciting New Customer’ award. This was awarded on the basis that the MITA project is currently the only solution based project that cuts horizontally across an entire Government. Furthermore, for the first time, the solution was used intelligently as an enabler and creation tool for the myriad of candidate Government eServices. Additionally, it was used to automate and facilitate other processes to present an outstanding user experience to MITA clients.
06.2 EU Workshop on Enterprise and IT Risk Management in Tax Administrations The Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) promotes IT Collaboration among European Tax Administrations in Member States and Candidate Countries, to share their knowledge and actively work together on this challenge. In November 2019, MITA and the Ministry for Finance hosted a workshop, funded by the EU Commission, on ERM and ITRM in Tax Administrations. In total, 52 representatives from 22 European Tax Administrations and consultants within the European Commission participated in this workshop, which was supported by DG TAXUD. This workshop was aimed at managers and experts involved and responsible for ERM, ITRM and IT Security in the Taxation domain. It gave participants the opportunity to share such knowledge and good practices amongst them. Moreover, the participants identified several opportunities for further collaboration to improve their IT risk management processes.
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06.3 Modernisation of the Justice Solution The Justice IT systems are currently passing through a modernisation process to make them more accessible and more user-friendly. MITA is playing an important role to ensure added value to the Courts, legal professionals and the citizens. MITA is developing a new IT system introducing new improved security features and additional benefits such as: • • • • •
To simplify the interface between Government, citizens and the business community and the provision of faster and simpler services; Reengineering of the technology stack to make it amenable to sharing of data and through this providing a framework for the implementation of the next generation of Courts eServices; Reengineering of the Courts Case Management module to align it to the new technology stack, make it database agnostic and shift away from a dated development technology; Deliver several new eServices including a Responsive Web Application for both Citizens and Legal Professionals and additional digital services; The new IT System will be accessible from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Another important function of the Malta Justice IT systems for the future is their interconnectivity with other Justice systems across the EU through the European e-Justice portal. This will enable citizens and the legal profession to access information such as European Small Claims, European Payment Orders, searching for insolvencies and judgements search through a common identifier, namely the European Case Law Identifier.
IT systems are an essential tool to modernise the judicial system that can create both opportunities and challenges. To achieve this MITA together with Courts and CIO office are working collaboratively to improve the existing IT systems with the possibility of introducing new IT supported functions in other Justice business areas.
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06.4 Legacy Systems Modernisation Government is currently investing in the modernisation of legacy systems originally deployed in the early 2000’s. These legacy systems are complex monoliths that grew over time to an extent where business agility is being lost due to the time and effort required for maintenance. A typical example of a monolithic system being modernised by MITA is the taxation/VAT online portal. Through these systems, taxpayers and/or tax representatives can interact with the Commissioner for Revenue to fulfil certain tax obligations. These systems now over 20 years old have become monoliths that package a wide range of services for individuals, companies, employers, VAT payers etc. in two large applications. At face value this may seem appropriate, however under the hood, the current implementation places dependencies between services that are independent of each other. This means that agility is lost in planning and implementing enhancements to the different services. Not to mention the fact that these systems also tightly couple user interface, business and data concerns.
To address this unsustainable state of affairs, Government invested in a brand new, cloud based infrastructure on top of which the next generation of systems will be developed and deployed. This mammoth undertaking is looking at existing systems as well as business vision to give birth to a new breed of systems based on modern architectural styles. The simplest way to avoid tightly coupled code is to weave in more interdependence between modules. Coupling can be defined as the measure of effort to separate a logical module from its reliance on another. A Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is the first step in decoupling business logic concerns from UI and data access concerns. Taking this a step further, Microservices architecture sub-divides the various business concerns in separate suites of modular services. Each module will be written to support a specific business objective and written in a simple way to communicate with other sets of services.
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Although developers need to deal with the additional complexity of creating a distributed system, microservices ensure better organisation within the development environment, improved performance and deployment of services. Such an architecture enables an organisation to develop effort around multiple teams; each responsible for one or more single service. This enhances agility to deploy and scale services independently of all other teams. It is important to point out that due to its distributed and de-coupled services, such an architecture can impede teams to understand the solution’s bigger picture. Perhaps a solution to this is, as highlighted earlier on, improved communication in between roles and stakeholders. On the outset, software architecture represents a blueprint; or a common abstraction of a system that most of its stakeholders can use as the root for mutual understanding, negotiation, consensus, and communication. So taking on the same example of the Taxation Online systems. Each service/component/ module will now be defined as a separate loosely coupled service depending on the requirement, which may collaborate with each other based on the scenario. Examples of these services/components/modules could be: authorisation, payments processing, tax return processing, taxpayer registration, so on and so forth.
Some taxation systems have already moved to a SOA and are already reaping the benefits. The next stage is to continue the transition to a proper Microservice architecture that leverages the benefits of Government’s investment in the hybrid-cloud infrastructure. This is software engineering work at its best.
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Reality is that no one size fits all. There are many different types of architectures that one can ponder over; all having their pros and cons. So, the microservice architecture might not fit all Government systems, it mostly depends on the different scenarios’ or projects’ requirements; and which trade-offs one is comfortable choosing. This is precisely what MITA is doing at present throughout this exciting modernisation journey.
06.5
Modern Workplace Initiative
The Licensing Management Unit is making headway and leading with a major change in both business operations as well as shifting a cultural change at MITA and government through the implementation of the Modern Workplace Initiative, which was established as part of the National Digital Strategy. A high-level discussion, which included higher management officials, was held to undertake a shift in the licensing model that was present and adopted through Government at the time. This change entailed moving away from a one-time cost perpetual model to a Subscription based model, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS). ICT operations are rapidly moving away from the old in-house server models and perpetual licensing to virtual and more responsive Cloud Services and software through consumption and on demand.
While this nouvelle idea may seem just in the way costs for software licensing are made it has far reaching implications. The change to SaaS ser ves several objectives in line with the National Digital Strategy which can be summed up as having the ambition of ‘Empowering Government Employees through a Digital Workplace.’ The strategy, as set by the Modernization Initiative will ensure that all Government Employees are located on the same platform, streamlining technology and licensing to all government work force in terms of operations (such as Microsoft Office 365).
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Achieving this transition to one central unified platform will bring many direct and indirect advantages. One key benefit for this will be to facilitate faster updates and reduce required technical support on outdated systems. Additionally, the modern tools offered by having the latest software across the board allows for greater depth of use, access, scalability through devices and mobility, which is a pre-requisite in today’s day and age. This radical change would ensure that adoptions are in line with shifts in the ICT industry as well as Government’s outlook on the digital Sphere, which is ambitious and goes beyond Workplace Digitization. At its core and through the initiative, in line with empowerment through modernization the following benefits become palpable: • Work anywhere; • Anytime; • On any device in a secure manner. With the onset of Cloud based computing and SaaS, security has been a main concern. Malta has invested in a nation-wide Cyber Security Initiative, as part of the National Digital Strategy. The Modern Workplace Initiative complements this strategic driver, in as much as the SaaS warrants added encryption and security, which in many cases is shifted to the supplier of the software license and gives an added level of security to users, entities and ultimately Government.
The first milestone for Workplace Modernization will be attained when all government users have changed to new 365 platform, which has a target date of end of year 2020. Achieving this will set the foundation by which MITA and Government can be better equipped and connected to then cease and capitalize on future coming technologies such as Cloud Computing and later, Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT’s) which would cement the titular moniker of “Blockchain Island”. MITA is proud to have been in a key instrumental position to assist and guide contractually as well as financially with Microsoft and other departments, to have facilitated this initiative, and through it helped deliver on its remit within the National Digital Strategy as a whole.
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Refreshing Network technologies
2019 saw the completion of the MAlta Government NETwork (MAGNET) sites technology refresh project. All the routers that reached their end-of-life were replaced with firewalls to improve the network security posture within these sites. As a result, 600 firewalls were installed within these Government sites.
CIO Offices were delegated access rights to the network management tool through which an inventory of all Local Area Network (LAN) switches within the CIO’s respective Ministry network can be viewed. This enables them to monitor the health status of each network device and other network management information. In addition, MITA was also involved in providing consultancy and facilitated the implemention of a revamped network infrastructure at St. Vincent De Paul Long Term Care Facility and at the Courts of Justice buildings. We assisted the Ministry for Health in identifying the network equipment required to plan the implement a network infrastructure technology refresh at Mater Dei Hospital. Two framework agreements were drafted to enable CIOs to procure network and LAN equipment. This will facilitate the procurement cycle and benefit from a more advantageous pricing. Enhancements were also carried out on the MITA Data Centre infrastructure, at both Sta. Venera and Mater Dei sites, in order to keep the network current and constantly updated in the face of the increased sophistication of network security threats. The exercise covered also a review of firewall policies, the patch management cycle, the implementation of new security features within core elements of the infrastructure and the decommissioning of end of support devices.
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Network Operations Centre
At the heart of MITA operations is the Network Operations Centre (NOC). Staff aided by IT monitoring tools and management structures, keep a watchful eye over engaged Government IT services whilst resolving issues and proactively employing preventive steps to reduce future occurrences. Such force is a drive forward to ensure 24x7x365 uptime availability of services for all stakeholders involved. MITA NOC handles approximately 1,000 alerts daily. Prompt escalation and resolution (where necessary) is critical and is mainly achieved through established procedures which seek to maintain turnaround times within the levels stipulated in the various SLAs. Keeping a track record of these alerts as well as logging in their details using a Service Management Tool is part of NOC’s daily routine. This central inventory of alerts serves not only as a compilation of known incidents, but also assists in building NOC’s intelligence for the resolution of similar incidents in the future.
Ongoing dynamic IT emerging technologies has been a constant driver for NOC’s maturity evolution. Optimization and effectiveness of intelligent monitoring tools is key in ensuring that NOC remains vigilant and in control whilst handling the large amount of incidents occurring every month. Collecting and reviewing performance reports from various systems and reporting trends in performance assist in documenting whilst predicting future bottlenecks, issues or outages. Whilst constant value is derived through uncompromised service availability, NOC’s input to the Agency is also gauged through a magnitude of supporting roles. MITA NOC resources embrace Data Centre Availability whilst simultaneously applying 24x7 support operation, handling hardware and virtual processes. Complementing processes include backup and storage management in line with the General Data Protection Regulation. Embracing new technologies as well as ensuring that personnel are receptive to continual advancement in handling incident management and risk planning are crucial to NOC survival now and in the future.
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06.8 Cyber Security Awareness and Education in earnest Throughout 2019, MITA proceeded with the implementation of the National Cyber Security Awareness and Education Campaign which was launched in October 2018. This is being undertaken under the direction of the National Cyber Security Strategy Steering Committee.
This year’s flagship activities included the launch of the B Secure Scheme and the Malta Cyber Security Summit. The B-Secure scheme aimed to promote and strengthen cyber security preparedness in the private sector was announced by Hon. Silvio Schembri on 13th June 2019 during an event held at the Chamber of Commerce.
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Through the B Secure Scheme, the private industry had the opportunity to apply for assistance in assessing the posture of their digital assets against the latest cyber security threats and also to further the education of their employees through training being offered, giving participants the possibility to earn certifications recognised world-wide in the cyber security domain. The Cyber Security Summit 2019 is the first ever summit of its kind organised by Cyber Security Malta in collaboration with the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, MITA, the Malta Chamber Of Commerce Enterprise & Industry and Tech.mt. This one-day summit, held on the 23rd October 2019, aimed to further educate the local professionals and executives about cyber security.
06.9 Email - Prime Channel for Business Communication Email remains one of the most powerful tools for timely and cost-effective communication with global reach. This also applies for the Maltese Government and related stakeholders. For this purpose, one of the main responsibilities of the MITA Email Services Team is to ensure that this service and related activities are delivered within agreed levels. 2019 saw the deployment of an upgraded email infrastructure, providing a platform that is designed to help meet the need for robust security, reliability, and user productivity. Given the importance associated with the Government Email Service, consideration was given to ensure that design of the architecture includes the required level of contingency. This extends from the hardware level up to the logical configurations at application and network levels.
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06.10 Environment Award for Industry 2019 for Sustainable Development MITA continued its “GREEN” journey by achieving the Environment Award for Industry 2019 for “Sustainable Development”. The award was received during the 10th edition of the Environment Award for Industry 2019 organised by the Cleaner Technology Centre. This award continues to demonstrate MITA’s tangible commitment towards effective Environmental Sustainability. Throughout the past years, MITA has adopted a cleaner and a more efficient practice to its corporate-wide operations to conserve energy and natural resources, as well as initiatives that reduce negative impacts on the environment. These initiatives cover a correct waste management system, the utilization of solar energy to create power for its operations, the reduction in transport emissions and the introduction to the agency of competent figures to maintain and monitor the environment, as required by law and international standards.
MITA is proud of its environmental achievements and is committed to the challenge of continually improving and reducing its environmental impact.
06.11 Hybrid Cloud Platform - MCA Award 2019 The Government, through MITA, has recently procured a Hybrid Cloud Platform via an open tender, the largest single investment made by MITA of approximately €15 million over seven (7) years. Through the Hybrid Cloud Platform Government shall be able to consistently run applications from both within MITA’s datacentres (on-premises) and Public Cloud which is located at datacentres (off-premises) within the European Union. Government, now, has the flexibility to choose the right combination of off-premises and on-premises deployment models to meet the business and technical requirements for its solutions. For instance, applications that run on-premises can move off-premises and vice versa without requiring major re-design. System developers will have at their disposal tools that are only available within the cloud which go much beyond the traditional virtualization technology. For instance, Government systems can make use of Virtual Machine Scale Sets on-premise that enable rapid deployments with automatic scaling options for modern workloads. This means, that if a service
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is under heavy usage, the cloud platform will automatically add more resources to the solution. As a result, it can cope with the load and remove the extra resources once the load has reduced. We have started the transition from the traditional computing model to a more efficient, agile, reliable, secure and cost-effective cloud computing model. We have invested in one of the best hybrid cloud platforms, which coupled with the modernization initiative of its services will become the backbone for most services the Maltese citizens will be making use of in the coming years. MITA is proud and honoured to take home the “Excellence, Innovation and Leadership in Information Security” award for our Hybrid Cloud for Government. The Award was presented during the 9th edition of the MCA eBusiness Awards.
06.12 Commitment to Support National Events MITA is proud to have continued to support Government in providing ICT technical and infrastructural requirements necessary to host national events. During 2019, MITA configured and supported all the necessary wired / wireless network infrastructure setup throughout the following three events, support both the meeting attendees as well as members of the media present for the event:
• Southern EU Countries Summit – Malta (Jun 2019) • Malta Ministerial Meeting on Migration (Sep 2019) • South EU Telecoms Ministers Summit – Malta (Oct 2019)
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07. MITA CARES DEFINING OUR AGENCY’S HEART
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MITA Cares approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reflects the way that the Agency is taking to ensure that its employees are and remain good corporate citizens. Social responsibility encompasses everything we do that has an impact on society around us, reflects our values and behaviour as an organisation. MITA Cares regularly organise events and encourages employees and their families to participate, and where possible volunteer in their organisation. Through these programmes we proactively improve our community and promote a culture of responsibility. Apart from supporting MITA employees, who are at times undergoing personal difficulties, MITA Cares continued to engage with NGOs and entities such as ALS, Puttinu, Caritas, Aġenzija Appoġġ, and the MCCFF. This support comes through ICT hardware donations, financial contributions, food donations, logistical support and employees voluntary work. MITA also supports the National Blood Transfusion Service campaign through blood donations including blood drives. This year, MITA Cares embarked on an ambitious project to upgrade the WIFI infrastructure at id-Dar tal-Providenza. The project will see that all grounds at id-Dar tal-Providenza will be WIFI enabled. This will be accessible by the Administration staff, the residents, and their visitors.
07.1 Visit by His Excellency Dr. George Vella - President of Malta In July, MITA welcomed His Excellency the President of Malta, Dr. George Vella at the MITA Data Centre, Sta. Venera. The President was briefed by the Executive Chairman Tony Sultana about MITA’s role in supporting Government’s ICT programme. H.E was also given a presentation by MITA Cares about the Agency’s commitment towards Corporate Social Responsibility.
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The President visited the Data Centre facilities including, the Service Call Centre, the Security Operations Centre and the Network Operations Centre, were H.E. met the employees and was briefed about the role of each function. Towards the end of the visit H.E. Dr. George Vella addressed MITA employees, commending their valuable role in supporting the public sector operations, using ICT as a backbone of Government’s operations. This comes through the dedicated support provided by MITA employees who guarantee ICT operational services and security.
H.E. also thanked MITA employees for their valuable contributions and highlighted that MITA can serve as a model for other public and private sector organisations.
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07.2 World Environment Day Clean-up Event
07.3 MITA Supporting l-Istrina and Puttinu Cares Similar to previous years, MITA Cares collaborated with the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation during l-Istrina 2019 fundraising charity event, as well as with Puttinu Cares Foundation during their Marathon fundraising event. MITA personnel voluntary mans the pledging lines during both events and together with l-Istrina logistics partner coordinates the collection of pledges from across the islands throughout the Istrina event.
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08. BOARD MEMBERS’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019
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Board members
M I TA A N N U A L R E P O R T
Mr Tony Sultana - Chairman Mr Anthony Borg Ing. Saviour Baldacchino Mr Joseph Noel Agius Dr Helen Borg Muscat
Board secretary
Dr Aron Mifsud Bonnici
Registered address
Gattard House National Road Blata l-Bajda HMR 9010 Malta
The board members of the Agency present their annual report and the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019.
Overview Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) is the central driver of Government’s information and communications technology policy, programmes and initiatives. The Agency is responsible for the delivery and management of all programmes related to the implementation of information technology and related systems in Government with the aim of enhancing public service delivery. MITA also provides information and communications technology infrastructure services to Government. Additionally, the Agency promotes and delivers programmes aimed at enhancing ICT education and the use of ICT as a learning tool. MITA is also involved in initiatives aimed at proliferating the further application and take-up of information and communications technologies in society and economy.
Core ICT Services to Government Throughout 2019, the provision of Core ICT Services to Government detailed by means of a contractual agreement between MITA and the Office of the Prime Minister, continued to provide the basis for the provision of the core ICT infrastructure to Government.
Projects and Programmes The delivery of specific projects and programmes provided a significant portion of the Agency’s business during the year. Specific programmes and deliverables included:
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eGovernment The European Commission’s eGovernment Benchmark 2019 Report identified Malta as one of three European front-runners in eGovernment. Malta rankled highly namely within areas of usercentricity, transparency, cross-border mobility and key enablers. Such ranking has been enabled by Government’s continuous drive towards the use of online public services. These services are supported by innovative technologies, aimed at increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the service rendered. MITA has been instrumental throughout 2019 in attaining this goal. Hybrid Cloud Platform 2019 saw the first implementation of solutions hosted on the new Hybrid Cloud platform. The client has now the flexibility to choose the right combination of off-premises and on-premises deployment models to meet the business and technical requirements for its solutions. All this can be done through a self-service portal, offering also the functionality to monitor the cost of their used resources. The resources within the cloud are billed on a pay-per-use basis, allowing tenants (users) to only pay for resources they are utilising. Workflow Automation Solution During 2019, MITA introduced the Workflow Automation Solution. An innovative means of simplifying Government’s workflow processes, through which online forms may be designed and implemented by even non-technical public officers. The Solution, which is funded under the CONvErGE ERDF Programme, was launched in August of 2019. It comes readily integrated with a number of eGovernment shared services such as eID, SMS notification, and payment gateway so as to make the creation of eServices easier. To date, there are 60 tenancies (work areas) and 110 eServices hosted on the platform. The solution was the first major solution to be hosted on MITA’s Hybrid Cloud. Notifications Platform Throughout 2019, 15 new services have been integrated with the Notifications platform; with Health and Education services amongst the new large consumers. Besides the latter integrations and support of the platform, MITA has worked on several enhancements to improve the overall quality of the service. MITA issued a Call for Tender for the Provision of SMS Services for a budget of €1.5M. By August 2019 the new SMS operator was engaged and a migration plan to the new operator was drawn up for all Government service consumers. By the end of the year all services were successfully migrated onto the new operator. Corporate Financial Management System MITA has also been actively involved in the Accrual Accounting financial reform which Government has been bringing the execution of this reform over the past years. It is expected to cost over €16M. Through the related Corporate Financial Management System (CFMS), financial statements and budget estimates will be easily generated online. Departmental Accounting System During 2019, MITA carried out several initiatives to ensure DAS Business Continuity is provided to the client. MITA replaced all servers and increased the pool of failover servers for both the production and the archive environment. All historical data from 2000 to 2018 was transferred from a physical server onto a virtual machine. Document Registry System All users were migrated to the new DocReg web application. MITA provided training to all registry administrators who can manage the respective registry user accounts with minimal help
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from MITA. The feedback received during these sessions was discussed with the Office of the Prime Minister. A major upgrade of the system was released during the last quarter of 2019. Payroll and HR Systems 2019 saw the implementation of the Circular Approval Module on the Government Recruitment Portal including integration with the Government Payment Gateway for recruitment calls where applications are against payment. Government employees can now access their FS3’s from the MyPersonalKiosk. A central data warehouse for Payroll\HR was created and both live and historical data were migrated into the new data repository. Various reports were developed on the new data warehouse. Maltapps MITA implemented a technology refresh of the Maltapps, which included an update to match the latest technology frameworks and migrated onto the cloud, enabling all backend services now being hosted on the MITA public cloud. Besides addressing the technology aspects, Maltapps was enhanced in terms of its user interface catering for the accessibility requirements mandated by the Accessibility Directive. Thus, besides providing a fresher look and feel, the app also provides an improved user experience to all users. Throughout the exercise, MITA worked in close collaboration with Servizz.gov and FITA respectively. Windows 10 Upgrade During 2019, MITA prioritised the deployment of Windows 10 operating systems on all Government workstations. As per Enterprise Agreement signed between the Government of Malta and Microsoft, Government has procured the required licences to upgrade its workstations to Windows 10. This deployment is more robust and includes additional secure features. This will also eliminate the security risk of having Government workstations whose operating system is no longer supported. Modern Desktop 2019 saw the implementation of Modern Workplace initiative on most Government users’ workstations. This involved the rollout of a modern desktop with Microsoft 365, Office 365 and Enterprise Management and Security. The modern desktop environment provides users with an empowering and secure workspace, powered by the latest productivity, teamwork, and collaboration experiences from the Cloud. This harnessed an environment that facilitates Enterprise Mobility, whilst prioritising security and data governance at all time. This was complemented by related training. Cybersecurity Services Further initiatives to bolster cybersecurity within Government have been undertaken by MITA during 2019. Following the launch of the Security Operations Centre (SOC), MITA pursued investment efforts leading to more effective monitoring of cyber activities as well as to the protection of Government digital asses, applying industry best practice in the process. MITA invested in cybersecurity tools that leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to smarter recognise and predict cyber-attacks. The use of AI algorithms will empower our security engineers to focus more on strategic and threat reducing initiatives. The use of AI in conjunction with solutions that facilitate automation and orchestration will further enhance the SOC to timely adapt to protect against the ever increasing complexities of today’s threats. In this manner, MITA shall be ensuring more efficient response to potential cyberattacks whilst coordinating its efforts along with its national as well as its overseas threat intelligence partners.
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Enterprise Resource Planning Throughout 2019 major effort has been invested to define the requirements for the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Solution aimed to modernise and increase internal efficiencies, through more innovative and collaborative business processes, with seamless integration and automation. We aim to maximise the use of data through the use of integrated ERP Reporting, Dashboards, and Data Analysis tool set for better decision making and planning process. New Computer Room Due to the increasing demand for hosting services, MITA has invested €500,000 in the setup of a new Computer Room at Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre, at Mater Dei Hospital (MDH). This computer room supplements the backup data centre hosted at MDH offering active replication of critical systems maintained at MITA Data Centre in Sta. Venera. Information Systems MITA remained instrumental in enabling various Ministries to implement various information systems within their scope. In collaboration with the Ministry for Finance and Financial Services, and the Ministry for Family, Children’s rights and Social Solidarity, MITA pursued its efforts in a major project, with a budget of €3.5M, involving the upgrade of the Inland Revenue, VAT and Social Security systems. The project aims to enable interoperability between the three systems and more widely accessible by 2021. Other initiatives include, the Online Payment Systems for high value payments and the Container Targeting System within the Customs department; aimed at increasing efficiency and facilitating high value payments, whilst combating customs-related crimes at Maltese ports. Throughout 2019, MITA has assisted the Ministry for Health in enhancing further its online systems, including the myHealth Portal; leading to increased participation of General Practitioners (GP) working in private practice whilst minimising waiting times to their patients to make use of public health services. One such instance includes the online scheduling by a patient’s GP for an X-Ray appointment at a Health Centre. MITA embarked on the unprecedented opportunity to modernise legacy systems and reengineering them into cloud native solutions, opening the way to embrace emerging technologies in areas such as Taxation, Social Security and Justice, creating an innovative impulse for digital transformation. Through the drive for the modernisation of legacy systems, MITA is seeking to re-architect solutions to benefit from the new hybrid cloud platform, using modern development approaches; DevOps and Microservices. The project also aims to increase efficiency and wider information accessibility to related system beneficiaries. A new Public Registry System (NPRS) was implemented in December 2019. As part of the MITA technology modernisation programme, this solution replaced the legacy Pub Reg System that has been in operation since 1993. In addition to the management of births, adoptions, marriages (religious, civil union, cohabitation), deaths and annotations, NPRS now incorporates other important functionality such as systems integration with various Government systems, document scanning, financial management and citizen notifications. NPRS brought value-added benefits, both for the business owner and to the general public. Emerging and Disruptive Technologies During 2019, MITA embarked on an initiative related to the use of emerging technology within MITA Service Call Centre (SCC) specifically focusing on the processing and classification of emails within the respective MITA service function. The aim of the proof-of-concept was to design, develop and train an AI Agent which will analyse the content of received SCC emails, initiate the respective service procedure as well as generate a response to the intended recipient. Such a system will considerably reduce the effort required by service centre agents to
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reply to service request emails, as well as make the service centre more efficient and effective in assisting customers. In collaboration with the Inland Revenue Department and the Department of Social Security, MITA is working upon Artificial Intelligence projects within the former entities’ respective line of business. This has entailed the delivery of related Proof of Concepts, in conjunction with the University of Malta, followed by the issue of related tenders which should serve as a means for private sector involvement in the implementation of such technologies. Ultimately, such innovative technology projects are aimed at providing more effective business analytic capabilities within the Public Administration. Additionally, in collaboration with the University of Malta, MITA launched a pilot project to evaluate the use of smart contracts with the aid of blockchain technology potentially for its internal procurement activities. The pilot project, which has involved tertiary students, both from the University as well as from MCAST, has been deemed to be a success. In consultation with its key economic operators, MITA is therefore currently planning for the next steps leading to the further realisation of the pilot project. YouStartIT Accelerator Programme During 2019, MITA, through its Innovation Hub (MIH), has pursued further in its YouStartIT Accelerator Programme. Over €450,000 have been invested by the Agency in over 25 Startup organisations which are still in their infancy and are seeking to apply emerging and disruptive technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Immersive Technologies, among others. A number of such Startup firms are still functioning even after completion of the Programme. 10 of them have successfully attained investments or grants worth over €1,775,000 in total for the completion of their projects. Scholarships Further to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the University of Malta and MITA, which was launched in August 2018, a further 19 scholarships were awarded during 2019, leading, in effect to an investment of around €200,000. The scholarships enable students to read for Masters and Ph.D. programmes which focus on Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) within any applicable discipline and programme offered at the University. B-Secure Scheme Through the Cybersecurity Programme, on a national scale, MITA has launched the B-Secure scheme, targeting private sector organisations. The Scheme serves as an opportunity for the private sector to bolster itself in cyber security through heightened cyber security awareness as well as through related risk assessments aimed at highlighting areas where security measures would be necessary. Student Placement Programme 2019 was the eleventh year of MITA ‘s undertaking of its Student Placement Programme. With a total annual investment of around €700,000 through such Scheme, the Agency provides work opportunities to around 400 ICT students throughout the summer months within public sector entities, NGO’s or private sector organisations. National and Government Strategies MITA has been instrumental in the articulation of two strategies. In June 2019, the Office of the
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Principal Permanent Secretary launched ‘Mapping Tomorrow - A Strategic Plan for the Digital Transformation of the Public Administration 2019-2021’. The Strategy delineates a number of goals, one of which relates to the Once Only Principle, whereby public service beneficiaries shall not be required to re-submit information which is already available within the Public Administration. In this manner, excellence may be rendered for online public services, with an even wider use of various technologies. In October 2019, a National AI Strategy, entitled ‘Malta - The Ultimate AI Launchpad: A Strategy and Vision for Artificial Intelligence in Malta 2030’ was launched. The Strategy aims to map the path for Malta to gain a strategic competitive advantage in the global economy as a leader in the AI field. It is built on strategic pillars which relate to investment, start-ups and innovation as well public sector and private sector adoption of Artificial Intelligence. The strategic pillars are in turn consolidated by three strategic enablers related to education and workforce, ethical and legal considerations as well as by an ecosystem infrastructure. Along with other key national stakeholders, MITA has given a significant contribution towards the Strategy’s articulation.
Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) During 2019 MITA embarked on ongoing initiatives aimed towards ensuring that ERM is integrated within the Agency’s processes and that risks are being recognised and effectively managed in a timely manner in line with the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) policy and procedure. This included:
•
regular reviews of all the risks logged in the MITA Risk Register System;
•
awareness sessions to MITA employees;
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regular ERM Committee meetings and quarterly EXCO updates;
•
reviews of MITA policies and procedures;
•
management of risk assessment exercises carried out on selected MITA processes.
Also in 2019, the Internal Audit Office and Enterprise Risk Management worked closely to ensure that there is synergy between the two functions, hence aiming to ascertain that risks emerging from internal audit exercises are duly mitigated, and that internal audit activities are risk-based and thus target the most prevalent risk areas that MITA is exposed to. In 2019, the two functions have also embarked on a joint exercise consisting of a number of risk-based checks carried out on multiple MITA processes leading to a number of proposed controls to ensure that identified risks are duly mitigated.
Financial review The overall financial performance of the Agency for 2019 shows a net surplus before tax of €805,480 (2018 :€933,074). Revenue from the provision of projects and ICT services to Government reached €32,016,955 (2018 : €27,462,556), up by 16.6% from 2018 results.
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Board Members’ responsibilities The Agency’s statute requires the board members to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the agency and of the profit or loss of the agency for that year, in accordance with the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU. In preparing these the board members are required to: • adopt the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the agency will continue in business; • select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently; • make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; • account for income and charges relating to the accounting period on the accruals basis; • value separately the components of asset and liability items; and • report comparative figures corresponding to those of the preceding accounting period. The board members are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the agency. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the agency and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The financial statements of MITA for the year ended 31 December 2019 may be made available on the Agency’s website. The board members are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the financial statements on the website in view of their responsibility for the controls over, and the security and jurisdictions, where legislation governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from requirements or practice in Malta.
This report was approved and authorised for issue by the Board Members on 4 September 2020, and signed on its behalf by:
Mr Tony Sultana Mr Anthony Borg Chairman Board member
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09. INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF MALTA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AGENCY
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Opinion We have audited the accompanying financial statements of Malta Information Technology Agency, which comprise the Statement of Financial Position as at 31 December 2019, and the Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income, Statement of Changes in Accumulated Fund and Cash Flow Statement for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes. In our opinion, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of Malta Information Technology Agency as of 31 December 2019 and of its financial performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU, and have been properly prepared in accordance with the Maltese Companies Act (Cap. 386).
Basis for Opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (ISAs). Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditors’ Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements section of our report. We are independent of the entity in accordance with International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants’ Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants (IESBA Code) together with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in accordance with the Accountancy Profession Act in Malta, and we have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements and the IESBA Code.
We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.
Other Information The board members are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the Board Members’ report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information. In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated.
Responsibilities of the board members The board members are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements that give a true and fair view in accordance to International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU and for such internal controls as the board members are necessary to enable the preparation
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of financial statements that are free from material misstatements, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements the board members are responsible for assessing the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the board members either to liquidate the entity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Auditors’ Responsibilities for the Audit of the Financial Statements Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an Auditors’ report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements. As part of an audit in accordance with ISAs, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also: •
Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control.
• Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. • Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the board members. •
Conclude on the appropriateness of the board members’ use of going concern basis of accounting and based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditors’ report to the related disclosures in the financial statements or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditors’ report. However, future events or conditions may cause the entity to cease to continue as a going concern.
• Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the financial statements, including the disclosures, and whether the financial statements represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves fair presentation.
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We communicate with the board members regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit.
Mr Manuel Castagna for and on behalf of Nexia BT Certified Public Accountants The Penthouse, Suite 2 Capital Business Centre, Entrance C Triq taz-Zwejt San Gwann SGN 3000 Malta Date : 4 September 2020
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10. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
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Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income for the year ended 31 December 2019 2019 â‚Ź Revenue Cost of sales Gross surplus Movement in provision for cost of service pensions payable to Government Administrative expenses
32,016,955
2018 â‚Ź 27,462,556
(23,666,589) 8,350,366
(19,617,130) 7,845,426
(134,005)
(234,909)
(7,373,027)
(6,856,452)
Operating surplus
843,334
754,065
Investment income Interest receivable and similar income Finance costs Surplus before taxation
3,530 (41,384) 805,480
211,224 3,219 (35,434) 933,074
Income tax Surplus for the year
(134,643) 670,837
(54,630) 878,444
Total comprehensive income
670,837
878,444
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Statement of Financial Position at 31 December 2019 2019 â‚Ź
2018 â‚Ź
2,725,091 20,000 968,419 3,713,510
3,327,832 20,000 760,588 4,108,420
23,885 5,401,280 4,117 13,744,170 19,173,452
17,004 5,321,267 29,679 14,813,399 20,181,349
22,886,962
24,289,769
4,542,497 3,788,622 8,331,119
4,542,497 3,117,785 7,660,282
1,234,782
1,157,600
171,992 13,149,069 13,321,061
163,841 15,306,242 1,804 15,471,887
14,555,843 22,886,962
16,629,487 24,289,769
ASSETS Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment Investment in associate Deferred taxation
Current assets Inventories Trade and other receivables Current tax recoverable Cash at bank and in hand Total assets EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Capital and reserves Capital reserve Accumulated fund Total fund Non-current liabilities Provision for liabilities and charges Current liabilities Provision for liabilities and charges Trade and other payables Short-term borrowings
Total liabilities Total equity and liabilities
The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board Members on 4 September 2020, and signed on its behalf by:
Mr Tony Sultana Mr Anthony Borg Chairman Board member
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