ICON at the Malta Attractiveness Survey 2016

October 31, 2016 11:13 am

Home / E-Mail Newsletters / ICON at the Malta Attractiveness Survey 2016

ICON’s Director, Dr. Gege Gatt spoke about the future of ICT at this year’s EY Malta Attractiveness Survey, Malta’s largest business and investment forum. The event was addressed by over 60 speakers including Malta’s top executives from both private and public sectors.

 

Strategy for furthering Malta’s ICT sector

Dr. Gatt discussed his views on how Malta could overcome challenges in the development of the ICT industry at the breakout session “Get Your Head in the Cloud”. He highlighted that the future of technology is dependent on two critical factors: (1) taking innovative products to the market effectively and (2) developing a skilled workforce which is capable of building and maintaining the said products.

To begin with, Dr. Gatt stressed that Malta simply isn’t generating enough start-ups. He urged that Malta must adopt a brave public policy framework to de-regulate certain aspects which hamper the growth and agility of start-ups. Dr. Gatt continued by discussing strategies that can be implemented to improve Malta’s receptivity for technological innovations:

ICON at Malta Attractiveness Survey 2016

“Behaviour and culture set the scene for a country to adopt and effectively utilise disruptive technology. Malta must think of ways on how to pivot its position to better receive technology innovations. I think that making coding as a mandatory “language” is a very interesting proposition which may help in the adoption of a systematic way of thinking and doing things.”

Dr. Gege Gatt,
Director at ICON

Dr. Gatt also suggested that changing the approach of how students are educated could enrich the skills of Malta’s future workforce. Tertiary education can be re-defined in such a way that learning becomes a life-long contract with an institution, instead of being limited to a three-year period. This would ensure continuous personal development as well as facilitating new ideas and innovation.

 

Progressing women in the workforce

In addition, Dr. Gatt emphasised that Malta needs to address the gender issues that encumber women in the workforce. He stated that inspiring role models and putting public policies for equality into practice are effective strategies for unlocking the potential of women working in the ICT sector. ICON itself obtained the Equality Mark Certificate this year and is proudly promoting a philosophy and practical policies of gender equality in the workplace. The mark certifies ICON as an equal opportunities employer that demonstrates a real commitment towards best practices.

 

Get in touch with ICON today and find out how we can help your business grow.

Tags: , , , , ,