Government investing €12.5m to provide the best ICT solutions

The Malta Information Technology Agency, on behalf of the Maltese government, is extending its strategic partnership with Microsoft Corporation for another five years. Through this agreement government will invest €12.5m in software licences which will enable the smooth operation of the government IT requirements.

Addressing a press conference to mark this event, Minister Emmanuel Mallia expressed government’s satisfaction for the extension of this strategic partnership. Dr Mallia explained that government knowledge workers will benefit from the procurement of the software licenses. However, he said that the benefits are not limited to workers in the Civil Service as Microsoft will be providing free online training to all Maltese students.

While stating that it is important to use the best ICT solutions, Dr Mallia reiterated government’s commitment to provide citizens with the access to the best tools which enable them to give the best results. For this reason, he said that government will ensure that the required training will be given.

Mita’s executive chairman, Tony Sultana explained that this agreement continues to build up on the previous one, while taking more advantages based on the economies of scales. For this purpose, a few months ago, he set up a competent team to guide the process in the best way. The team was composed of financial, legal and technological experts, together with specialised persons in government operations.

Mr Sultana expressed his satisfaction about the results obtained by his team. He explained that there was more transparency and competitivity in the tendering process, while the agreement itself provides more value for money. Through this agreement government will be able to work seamlessly between its various departments, something which is in line with government’s national strategy. Finally, Mr Sultana said that this agreement will also help start-ups and will provide opportunities for training and mentorship.

Mita’s chief financial officer, Ivan Alessandro gave more details about the work undertaken by the team to prepare for the best partnership agreement with Microsoft. While explaining that a period of five years gives financial stability to the agreement, Mr Alessandro said that this provided Mita with better rates, together with access to professional consultancy from Microsoft to continue with the implementation of the digital strategy.

Apart from this, Mr Alessandro said that Mita managed to increase its license base by around 20%. This resulted in an agreement which provides more value for money through additional licences and services.

Addressing the press conference, enterprise and partner group manager of Microsoft Malta, Reuben Caruana said that Microsoft feels satisfied in extending its collaboration with Mita and the Maltese government.

Mr Caruana said that Microsoft will continue to strengthen its collaboration through the Microsoft Innovation Centre, which collaboration had already started in the previous agreement. He also said that start-up companies will benefit from free software and cloud services for a period of three years through the BizSpark initiative.

Start-ups will also benefit from loaning of devices and ongoing mentoring for cloud and mobile app development.