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The Malta Independent | Thursday 1 October 2015
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 1 October 2015
MITA Communications and PR Team
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
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e generally and traditionally sit on a sofa to chat with our family or peers. Today, this chat is being extended online, via facebook. This has become an alternative way to start discussion, expose customer care failures and why not,
recommend a good deal or a restaurant with a promising service. The other article highlights feedback given one of the two seminars organised by Digital Malta. On a yearly basis, Digital Malta organises workshops to collect feedback from Government employees, business repre-
sentatives, non-governmental organisations and the general public. Participants of these workshops are given an opportunity to propose ideas on specific ICT projects and new initiatives that could be included in the Digital Malta Programme of Initiatives of the following year.
All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature
Feedback from stakeholders on Malta’s ICT vision
A When Facebook becomes ‘The Salott’
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ith over 24K members, ‘The Salott’ is the place where you can let out your customer care frustrations and share certain experiences openly. It is also the place where you can find the unimaginable of questions..at times historically funny or awkward. The MITA ICT feature interviewed Francesca and Moira, the main administrators of ‘The Salott’, to see what’s behind the group and, how people express themselves on social media ‘The Salott’ sounds like quite a particular name. What made you choose this name for your group? Is there a specific target audience? The name came about because of the way we Maltese speak, half English half Maltese, mixing and matching both languages without really paying much notice. We first thought of ‘Is-Salott’ which of course would have been grammatically correct. In our eyes however this sounded rather boring and without flavour. It would have given the impression that it was a group targeted for Maltese speakers only. We were aware that we had a good amount ex pats of all nationalities and we wanted them to feel welcome. Naming the group ‘The Salott’ gave it more of an international feel and also it’s a bit tongue in cheek as well as humorous. When was ‘The Salott’ page created and what does it represent? The Salott was created three
years ago with the intention of focusing on customer care issues and recommendations. The Salott represents a varied selection of Maltese society, which includes lawyers, professors, housewives, doctors, migrants, students. The amazing part of it all is having a mix of opinions from different background and experiences. Interestingly, we were getting many appeals, from NGOs, students and other third parties who liked the fact that we had good following on the page, and wanted to use our platform to reach many. This way we could the main page focussed and also help out others easily. What was your intention of the concept of the group? Why opt to have it as a closed group? The intention was varied and not restricted to one concept. The group offers a platform to create fun space for discussion related to current affairs, consumer issues, health topics, raise awareness, and to promote and support charitable causes. It was always meant to act a virtual living room where friends would gather to have a friendly discussion. We opted to have a closed group because we like to have a bit of control of who to allow to join. Generally, we do not add people who do not seem to have a real name or who do not have a profile picture. Another reason why we had to close it was because of the way some people would use the page to pass negative and unsavoury comments which provoke, hurt or annoy others. How many individuals
form part of the administration team and what are your backgrounds? The main original team is made of Moira and myself (Francesca), however we have third party help as we cannot manage it alone. My (Francesca) background is very varied I have worked since I was 16 so that’s 30 years already I have done different jobs, from working as a receptionist to managing a team of IT professionals and to running my company. Moira is a beauty therapist. What type of posts are not allowed on ‘The Salott’? Are there any particular posts which you refrain from posting? We do not allow politics, religion, and racism. We rarely delete posts, but if we see that they are leading to an out of control discussion, we delete them. We are administrators and not moderators, therefore posts go up live there and then. The Salott comments are not moderated by us. All comments are live and we as administrators might chose to remove certain content or even ban members only after the comment has been posted. How in your view do people discuss online? Technology wise, is it the same way as they do in the street? Is technology an advantage when it comes to people’s comments? Discussing online can lead to more misunderstandings, especially if you do not know those
who you are discussing with. One needs to be careful when discussing online. Our suggestion is to reread a comment a couple of times before posting it, to make sure not to offend anyone. It seems that being behind a keyboard gives people the opportunity to hide, and they feel somewhat to have more power to judge, insult or be rude. This brings us to think that technology can make it easier for some to comment, since they have the opportunity to create fake profiles. We prefer a more civil approach where people agree to disagree. It is a concept which we try to instil. Which were the weirdest requests that you had? Can you mention a few? We don’t really get requests on The Salott. All I can tell you is that many journalists watch The Salott to see what the members are discussing and then pick up news items from there. One time I started the discussion about certain undertakers ripping off mourners, another time on the complaints against racist bus drivers. Then eventually they investigate and write their stories. What are the most common requests and reviews by your followers? Most common and the most annoying are what shops open on a Sunday or when it is a feast. Another request is usually on which gas stations are open in winter. When the requests become too frequent we open a page to centralise and that’s the reason why we have separate pages for property, travel, books, films, classified, cooking and pets.
We also have many positive threads about how wonderful the staff at Mater Dei are, how kind and helpful some staff are. We do manage to help raise funds for many good causes too, and that is very satisfying, to say the least . Do Maltesers just moan on your page or do they also mention positive things? Examples. Many moan, however we also get many positive. There are some whose moaning is justified and it is for a good reason. We have come a long way in Malta with regards to customer service thanks in part to social media and groups like The Salott, however we still have way to go on issues like racism and gender equality. We encountered lovely stories too, like the Ice cream vendor in Bahar ic cahaq who gave all the orphans an ice cream, the parker at the beach who is so helpful and who got an appreciation by hundreds. The amount of people who lost things and then found their owners, relatives, keys, jewellery and so many things have been found through our page is countless. Does The Salott intend to grow? Different ideas are in place to increase the number of the members as well as make ‘The Salott’ a structured place and a mature meeting point. Even if we would like to contribute more, our time is limited due to other commitments. We are glad to receive roughly 50 requests per day to join our group.
ttaining Malta’s ICT vision to prosper as a digitally-enabled nation in all sectors of society, requires considerable amount of work. It involves investing in different projects targeted towards different age groups and delivered by different entities. These projects need to be thought of, delivered and monitored. On a yearly basis, Digital Malta organises workshops to collect feedback from Government employees, business representatives, non-governmental organisations and the general public. Participants of these workshops are given an opportunity to propose ideas on specific ICT projects and new initiatives that could be included in the Digital Malta Programme of Initiatives of the following year. Earlier this September, Digital Malta organised two separate workshops where different stakeholders have been invited to participate and contribute. The first workshop was targeted to representatives from the Businesses and Government organisations whilst the second workshop was intended for the general public and NGOs. As part of both workshops a status update on the work being performed in 2015 was given. Work is currently being carried out on 79% (56 out of 71) of the Digital Malta Actions. Through various initiatives and projects the Digital Malta Actions are implemented, in fact in 2015 more than 220 ICT related initiatives are being implemented. From these 220 initiatives, 62 initiatives
tive, they are not effective as the capital required to start a company is often beyond that being offered by through these schemes. • The publishing of open data by Government and the possibilities of businesses to utilise such data.
The Digital Malta Governing Board chairperson, Mr Godfrey
were more than 75% complete by July. Initiatives which were mentioned during the workshop included the following: • Further online services for the legal profession • eCommerce action plan: crafts, tourism and hospitality industries • Launch of a gov.mt mobile application, accessible from different platforms • Free WiFi Access in public places • Improvements and simplification of eID The first workshop was structured in a way to encourage representatives from businesses and Government to discuss areas relevant to their work. In fact through subgroups various recommendations have been made and ideas proposed. Some of the interesting suggestions were: • A One Stop Shop offering a centralised system where com-
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plaints are passed on to Ministries and their respective departments. An internal chat system between Ministries and Government entities so that communication between different parties is facilitated. The implementation of a central email archiving system for Government, this would improve the archiving of data. The importance of tapping EU funds even for small projects. It was mentioned that in this case bureaucracy must be reduced when applying for funds. This led to the idea to have a central team/group that helps the Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to apply for EU funds as a group or individually. Setting up of a common GIS application that can be used by Ministries and entities to maintain location based information. The creation of a mobile app to solve the traffic problem and facilitate the usage of public transport.
The discussion between the various representatives from the businesses had different focus points. Areas where Government, through Digital Malta, can assist the business community have been discussed. Some discussion points were: • The lack of awareness on new technologies and the benefits by business owners. • Imbalance between demand and supply of skills necessary for industry especially ICT • The importance of specialist courses. • Although the schemes being offered to start-ups are posi-
Vella, concluded the workshop by mentioning the importance of these workshops as a means to gather feedback from various sectors within the society. Ultimately, he stated, a paradigm shift is needed in the way technology is utilized. Information should be the basis for the creation of services that result in a better quality of life for the citizens.