Government turns to Artificial Intelligence to manage traffic, avoid medicine shortages

The Minister for the Economy, European Funds and Lands, Silvio Schembri announced six different Artificial Intelligence projects aimed at making our lives easier.

These six projects were set out in the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and are to be implemented by the Malta Digital Innovation Authority (MDIA). The MDIA will be allocating a total of €4m towards these projects.

The six projects cover transportation, energy, health, education, tourism and servizz.gov.

Minister Schembri explained that through the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, Malta is aspiring to become a place where local and foreign companies and entrepreneurs can develop, test and enhance AI programmes while introducing such innovative creations to a country that is prepared to adopt this technology. The aim is for Malta to create the best possible conditions so that it can serve as a hub for this technology.

During the news conference, the following details were given on all six projects.

A project with Transport Malta is underway to amalgamate traffic lights, CCTVs and multi-message display panels in a single system. The data collected will be analysed and used to better manage traffic data. The information can also be used on road and traffic-related platforms such as Google Maps. MDIA will be investing €1.9m for this project.

In the field of energy, Enemata, the Water Services Corporation and ARMS will be joining forces using current algorithms to compile and analyse current data to learn about important patterns and information on the use of water and electricity. This will enable these entities to maximise resources while providing real-time feedback to customers and even pre-empt a problem in the system for maximum efficiency. MDIA’s investment towards this project will amount to almost €380,000.

In addition to servizz.gov, a chatbot will be created to add to the more traditional services offered by the agency, through email, a mobile app and a freephone, so that services offered to the public are more efficient than ever before. MDIA will allocate €590,000 towards this project.

An adaptive system will be created in the field of education to help students get a better education through programmes tailored for the performance of students, ambitions and skills – €150,000 is being allocated for this project.

In the field of health, in conjunction with the Central Procurement and Supplies Unit, AI will be used to create a decision-making tool to help with budgeting, procurement processes and the ordering process. MDIA has allocated €300,000 for this project.

In the field of tourism, tourist personas will be created according to what interests they may have and what kind of life they live, along with demographic data. This will allow the Malta Tourism Authority to better understand trends and prospects in the tourism sector. €800,000 in financial assistance will go towards this project.

Minister Schembri thanked the MDIA for its work tied to the AI Strategy itself and for kick-starting these projects. He also thanked all the entities involved in these projects.

“This is just the beginning; in the coming months and years Artificial Intelligence will be increasingly used in our daily lives and Malta should be the leader of such ideas and developments,” added Minister Schembri.