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The Malta Independent | Thursday 7 January 2016
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 7 January 2016
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
MITA Family Day The MITA Family Day was held on Wednesday, 8th April 2015 at Buskett Gardens. The event was a great success bringing together MITA employees, their families and friends.
MITA Innovation Hub - StartAPP15K MITA Innovation Hub launched “startApp €15K” on January 20th 2015. This initiative gave an opportunity to Startups and SMEs to research, develop and create their own marketable Intellectual Property. The MITA Innovation Hub (MIH) offered startups two grants of €15,000 each for the development of a proof-of-concept based on the two innovatively designed Mobile Apps in two separate thematic areas – ‘development and planning’ and ‘cultural heritage’.
MITA Open Day 2015 On the 25th of January, MITA opened its doors to the general public as part of the Public Service Week. The event was a real success with over 500 visitors, including the Principal Permanent Secretary and other distinguished guests, turning up throughout the day to tour around the data centre facilities. Visitors had the opportunity to meet MITA professionals who explained the various services and projects.
More Justice Services Online MITA has been collaborating with the Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government to turn current manual procedures within the justice sector into electronic systems. The Justice Reform Programme is a means for the legal profession to spend less time processing legal documents in Courts as well as encouraging citizens to interact electronically with the Courts.
Teachers’ Advantage Scheme The Teachers’ Advantage Scheme was launched in May. In total, over 12,000 educators were eligible for this offer. Through this €1.2 million investment, educators will be using the latest versions of Office and the same feature set as their students. They will also be able to use Office anywhere, anytime and across any device. It will allow them to install full Office on up to five PCs or Macs and unlock the editing capabilities of the Office apps for tablets and smartphones.
EU eGovernment Benchmark Report Malta was reconfirmed as leader in the delivery and performance of eGovernment services amongst 33 countries (28 European Union member states together with Iceland, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey) during June 2015. The results were published in the eGovernment Benchmark Report 2015 issued by the European Commission.
Celebrating 25 Years of Achievements MITA celebrated its 25th anniversary with an event for all employees at the Verdala Palace in July 2015. The event served to look back at some of the most important milestones and successes of the past quarter of a century – collectively these have shaped MITA into what it is today. To commemorate its 25th Anniversary, MITA commissioned 12 students from the MCAST Art and Design Institute to propose and design a set of 12 murals.
National Cyber Security Strategy - Green Paper At the end of October, a Green Paper for a National Cyber Security Strategy was launched by the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Hon Dr. Chris Cardona at the MITA Data Centre. The aim of the green paper is to raise awareness on cyber security, its extent and its implications which Malta needs to consider. It also sets the stage for detailed consultation with feedback from the public sector, the private sector and civil society, leading to the launch of the National Cyber Security Strategy.
Public Services Online The ESF4.243 project was officially launched on the 11th of March, including an address by the Principal Permanent Secretary. Preparatory training for public officials was initiated, research focus groups were concluded and a brand was created for the project. The Public Services Online project aims to increase the citizens’ use of a number of eGovernment services. This project aim was to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Government through more user-focused eServices based on feedback from the citizens. Through this project, public officials were trained so that they in turn encourage and empower citizens to use eServices.
2015 President’s Fun Run For the third time running, MITA participated in the President’s Solidarity Fun Run on 15th November 2015. The President Fun Run/Walk is aimed to raise funds for The Malta Community Chest Fund.
MITA Strategy 2015 2017 In February 2015, the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) launched a new Strategy to set the development path for the period between 2015 and 2017. The Strategy sets out a vision to transform the Agency into the “Digital Leader for the Government of Malta” while establishing how MITA needs to become an innovative, agile and open organisation with an empowered workforce. In the next three years, MITA will upgrade its service portfolio and ensure that the services it provides are fit for purpose, flexible, customisable and competitively priced. The Agency will also evolve to keep the pace with the new enterprise ICT landscape of cloud services, mobility, BYOD and social media
MITA Communications and PR Team
2015: A remarkable year for MITA In 2015, MITA commemorated some of the most important mile-
stones and successes of the past quarter of a century as part of the agency’s an25th niversary celebrations. Along the years MITA has evolved into a dynamic ICT solutions provider strengthening its position as a digital leader for the Government of Malta. The Agency has also effectively undertaken various key initiatives and large scale projects.
Former Employees Get Together MITA organised an event as part of its 25th Anniversary celebrations during October 2015 for its former employees. The event was an opportunity for current employees to reunite with their ex colleagues. The event was an another occasion for both parties to share fond memories where they contributed to what is now known as MITA, but previously was named MSU and MITTS respectively.
MITA Security Expo 2015 MITA organised a Security Expo on 17th October 2015. The aim of this EXPO was to provide ICT students with inside views from various IT security professionals as well as providing hands on ethical hacking skills.
New Parliament and Oncology Centre MITA was engaged to design, facilitate the procurement process, implement and commission a comprehensive wireless and wired data network within Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre and the New Parliament Building. The data network deployed at the Oncology Centre, commissioned during 2015, allows workstations, laptops and tablets, together with medical equipment to access ICT health systems hosted in MITA’s Data Centres. MITA was also requested to assist the House of Representatives (HOR) in the migration process from its offices at the Grandmaster’s Palace to the new Parliament site.
Valletta Summit on Migration and CHOGM Malta 2015 During November, MITA supported the Valletta Summit on Migration and CHOGM Malta 2015. MITA’s role included the hosting of key systems, network infrastructure evaluation and assessment across over 20 venues, ICT services project management and ICT Support services coordination and management. Most notably, MITA coordinated ICT Services for two media centres hosting over 600 international journalists.
Student Placement Programme 2015 MITA in collaboration with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth launched the Student Placement Programme for 2015. The 2015 Programme introduced a new element of flexibility whereby employers and students can mutually agree on when the placement shall start and also on their working hours.