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The Malta Independent | Thursday 28 April 2016
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 28 April 2016
The Malta MITA meets Greece government delegation to discuss ICT aspects in relation to the Gender Identity legislation Independent ICT Feature A s a joint initiative between the Council of Europe and the Maltese Government, a Greek government delegation visited Malta last week to better understand the implementation of the gender identity legislation in Malta. The delegation was hosted by the Ministry for Social Dialogue and Civil Liberties (MSDC). The Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), as Government’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) Agency participated in a round-table discussion about various ICT aspects of this innovative legislation in the field of LGBTIQ. MITA representatives at this meeting were Ms. Elizabeth Olivieri, Ms. Tania Zahra , Ms. Mary Louise Spiteri Scifo and Mr. Andre’ Damato. Before delivering a corporate
presentation MITA thanked the MSDC for their credence in the Agency and harped on the MITA’s strategy in its commitment towards Government’s programmes and initiatives by providing expert advice and serving as a business-change catalyst through ICT, for the benefit of Maltese citizens. Understandingly both the Maltese Government and the private industry will need to represent the gender identity legislation in their respective ICT systems and processes. In this regard, during the round table meeting a number of ICT aspects surrounding the legislation were discussed, including technical recommendations, considerations and approaches. A presentation compiled between MITA and the Identity Malta Agency explained the technical standards for machine-readable passports, visas
and ID cards as specified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Mr. Silvan Agius - Director of Human Rights and Integration from the MSDC explained that the presence of the Greek Government officials in Malta demonstrates the appreciation of the Maltese legislation model by the Council of Europe, which legislation is considered to be the best in Europe. In effect, a number of EU countries such as France and Belgium are also highly interested in introducing similar legislation in their countries. More information on the initiatives of the Ministry for Social Dialogue can be found at: www.socialdialogue.gov.mt Learn more on MITA’s Strategy by visiting here: https://www.mita.gov.mt/en/ Pages/MITA-Strategy.aspx
MITA Communications and PR Team
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s a joint initiative between the Council of Europe and the Maltese Government, a Greek government delegation visited Malta last week to better understand the implementation of the gender identity legislation in Malta. The delegation was hosted by the Ministry for Social Dialogue and Civil Liberties (MSDC). The eSkills Malta Foundation
organised an informal table discussion on the 25th April 2016 about the IT Profession and the Code of Conduct. All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature
ICT Profession Event - eSkills Malta Foundation Carm Cachia
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n support for the IT Professionals Day the eSkills Malta Foundation organised an informal table discussion on the 25th April 2016 about the IT Profession and the Code of Conduct. The topic was discussed by a number of highly credited individuals from the ICT Profession, academia and business, namely, Profs Ernest Cachia from the University of Malta, Mr Conrad Vassallo from MCAST, Mr Gian Carlo Millo from ISACA Malta Chapter, Dr Brian Warrington from Computer Society Malta, Mr Duncan Dimech from the BCS Malta Section, Eng. Saviour Baldacchino from the Malta Chamber of Engineers, Mr Marcel Cutajar from the Chamber of Commerce, Ms Elizabeth Olivieri from MITA, and Carm Cachia from eSkills Malta Foundation who moderated the discussion. An introduction on the subject was given by Carm Cachia and he explained how the promotion of the ICT Profession is one of the main objectives of the Foundation and thus its intention to take this further forward. In broad terms, the panel agreed that a Steering Group should be set up to work on a
plan, followed by the consolidation of the IT Profession due to the various existing different roles in ICT. It was also identified that the EU eCompetency Framework can be a very good basis for this since it has matured over the years and has been implemented in other EU countries. The Framework is kept up to date with the advancement in the ICT sector. Regulation of the ICT Profession should then follow which would include the setting up a Code of Conduct and possibly a warrant or Charter for the IT profession.
The discussion was conducted in a relaxed and informal fashion with the moderator enticing various issues that the ICT profession faced and will be facing. Amongst others the following items were discussed. • The ICT Professional should have a warrant like other professionals e.g. lawyers, accountants, teachers, etc; • A Warrant or Regulation is not the most important aspect but the Code of Conduct is; • Although having a common base the Code of Conduct may differ depending on the ICT
Professional’s role; • Knowledge, education, certification and experience are the key ingredients; • Both formal and informal education should be regarded; • Due to the dynamic nature of the ICT Industry the professionals need to keep abreast with the new methods and/or technology to keep the warrant; • ICT professionals would be happy to have a code of conduct and it can be more effective it is not mandatory but voluntary;
• A body must be identified to own this project, such as eSkills Malta Foundation; • The ICT market is very fragmented and dynamic and therefore not easy to regulate; • A Warrant is not finite but needs to be revalidated every designated period; • The concept of warrant has to be checked to see how it can be
applied to ICT; • Before coming up with a warrant it is important to consolidate the ICT Profession; • Education is key for recognising the importance of having a mature ICT Profession This event definitely can be regarded as a kick-start for the further development of the ICT Professional and the intention of
all the members in the panel is to continue to contribute further to this initiative. The members then spent some time networking with each other discussing issues of common interest over some refreshments. www.eskills.org.mt www.facebook.com/eskills4jobsMT/ www.facebook.com/ESkillsMalta/