Next week’s episode of The Boardroom, hosted by business writer Jo Caruana, will continue the discussion on the past, present and future of Malta’s digital communications networks, digging deep into the regulatory challenges and opportunities, the need for cross-border collaboration, and the promise of 5G.

Airing live on Tuesday 14th December at 11am on the WhosWho.mt Facebook page, the episode will feature guests from the Malta Communications Authority’s Spectrum Management Unit.

Tuesday’s session will bring the MCA Spectrum Management Unit’s Antoine Sciberras and Jean Marie Mifsud to share aspects of the MCA’s culture of innovation and cooperation that has seen it take a leading role in Europe-wide discussions.

From the use of virtual reality for pain management to collaboration with top international and local companies like IBM and Epic, all the way to the budding Internet of Things, Mr Sciberras and Dr Mifsud will give viewers a front row seat to see how the Authority uses innovative regulatory technology and identifies the right opportunities to invest in Malta’s connectivity ecosystem.

Antoine Sciberras, Chief Officer of the MCA's Spectrum Management and Technology Unit

Apart from serving as Chief Officer for Spectrum Management and Technology at the MCA, Mr Sciberras is also a Senior Visiting Lecturer with the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies at the University of Malta.

He has more than 20 years of experience across technology, commercial and regulatory domains in electronic and digital communications, telecommunications and the aerospace industries within both public and private sectors roles and is a well-regarded expert in the formulation, review and application of national, European and International regulatory instruments in spectrum management, electronic communications, radiocommunications equipment and the Next Generation Internet.

Mr Sciberras holds appointments with Malta’s National Cybersecurity Steering Committee, the competent authority responsible for the Protection from Ionising and Non-Ionising Radiation and previously with the national taskforce overseeing Malta’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

He is Malta’s representative and Administrative Board member to the European Union Agency for the Space Programme and an active participant and contributor within various regulatory fora, including the International Telecommunications Union, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications, the European Commission’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity.

He is actively engaged as an expert and researcher across various EU-funded initiatives, with contributions to publications on trust and security through the application of distributed-ledger technologies in digital spectrum marketplaces.

Mr Sciberras holds a Masters in Knowledge-based Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Malta, a post-graduate diploma in Engineering Management from Brunel University London and certifications in Regulation from the London School of Economics, ISO 27001 implementation (PECB) and project management (PRINCE2).

Jean Marie Mifsud, from the MCA's Spectrum Management and Technology Unit

Dr Mifsud meanwhile serves as co-chair of the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC)’s Planning and Future Trends Working Group.

She previously worked with a Satellite Solutions Provider, where she was responsible for the end-to-end delivery of satellite communications infrastructure and services on-board merchant vessels, cruise liners and ferries. Dr Mifsud also lectured at the national college for arts, science and technology.

She graduated from the University of Malta in 2009 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Electrical Engineering. In 2013, she was awarded a Ph.D in ICT from the University of Malta for her research in Multicast Multimedia Transmission over Wireless Local Area Networks focusing on reliability aspects. Her research has been published and cited in various international conferences and journals.