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The Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology here outlines its ICT strategy, which aims to make government leaner and meaner through the use of today’s technologies
The Ministry for Investment, Industry and Information Technology is in the business of running the country. In some ways this is a unique business. The responsibilities are substantial and the workload is hefty. In one way it is particular because most other businesses can only succeed if we conduct our business well. But in many ways, the business of running the country is like any other business.
As such therefore the skills and the tools we need to run this organisation that we call Government with an appropriate measure of efficiency and effectiveness must change and adapt as much as the skills and the tools of any successful organisation of today’s world. Perhaps, in our case, the need is even more urgent. We provide leadership and example and have the duty and responsibility to be role models in our country. There will be no information society unless there is truly an information-based government.
There is therefore a clear and present need for continued change within the structures of Government. We need to become leaner and meaner in the way we do our work, delivering results quicker, taking more informed decisions, and finding ourselves sharper and ever better prepared for changes we can or cannot forecast.
ICTs are the single most effective way to reach this goal. However there is one particular characteristic of our business organisation that distinguishes it from all the rest in our country: it is by far the largest. Whatever the good will of all might be, even if everyone where to do their best at all times, an organisation of this size must necessarily bear its own weaknesses. Internal and external communications will fail at some points, and rust will accumulate in the parts that have missed recent oiling. Above all, if it takes some persuasion for a small family based business to change the way it works from say a manual to a digital process, an organisation the size of the public sector, employing little short of half the working population of Malta, is bound to have inherent reluctance and resistance to change with or even ahead of the times.
Our mission is to defeat that reluctance and resistance. Organisations need leadership within themselves as well. We have taken upon ourselves the proselytising role of persuading and changing. This is about helping our employees do a better job and achieve and contribute more within their time. It is also about improving the quality of lives of all: whether they provide or consume public services. The business of Government, our business is after all about just that: improving the quality of people’s lives.
This is one of the thirteen objectives of the National ICT Strategy for the coming three years. Anyone wishing to learn more can download a complete copy of the Strategy from www.miti.gov.mt.
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