According to the Malta Digital Innovation Authority’s (MDIA) Chief Technology Officer, innovative technology that is certain to leave its mark on Malta is Distributed Ledger Technology (DLTs) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On AI, Efrem Borg says the area is “picking up tremendously, mostly because of its ease in applicability when utilised correctly”.

While speaking on this morning’s episode of The Boardroom, Mr Borg emphasises how AI removes tedious tasks and provides humans with decisions they can then decide upon later.

“We as an authority believe that for the successful implementation of AI, awareness and creating digital skills is key.”

In fact, MDIA have recently launched a University of Malta scholarship for courses in AI.

“Very shortly, we will start a number of courses in secondary schools promoting and explaining AI and DLT to senior school students.

“We believe that capturing students early can provide the digital skills that Malta needs to be able to adopt these innovative technologies,” he says.

AI is backed by a national strategy “with quite a daunting vision” – in fact, the vision spans from 2020-2030 and contains with it a plan for implementation.

Mr Borg points out that the vision is also substantiated with the national budget, saying that in 2020 around €1 million was allocated, with this going up to €2 million for 2021.

The MDIA are in fact overseeing the implementation of the national strategy, through a number of initiatives – 72 to be exact – which need to be conducted, and six main pilot projects in various sectors: transport, health, education and customer services (servizz.gov).

“Other technology we are keeping our eyes on are supercomputing – which is picking up pace, and high-speed connectivity, like 5G. The importance of having cyber security control objectives all throughout any technology – being traditional or innovative, is imperative”.

He points out that Malta was the first jurisdiction to create a legal framework in terms of innovative technology.

“The trick is to find the right balance of promoting such technology and regulating it. We need to make sure that through regulation, we do not inhibit the uptake of new innovative technology. We do not want to this, as we are adamant in our belief on the social benefits brought on by correct implementation of such technologies.”

He says that another area in which Malta is leading is the collection of strategies relating to digitalisation, such as the digital Malta strategy and the national AI strategy, which are aligned into ensuring Malta reaches its objectives in the digital sphere.

Asked about what opportunities are present to further position itself as a ‘digital island’, Mr Borg says:

“We see the EU recognising the importance of having a centralised function for certification. Notwithstanding the challenges the MDIA has faced, the model which the authority, through Malta, has adopted, is something other member states are looking on.

“This makes us proud that we have been the trend setters in this regard.”

He points towards the difference between his role as CTO, and his colleague’s role as Chief Regulatory Officer, explaining that while his mandate is to promote innovative technology, his is to regulate it.

“Together, we have to find a balance to ensure the safe implementation for innovative technologies.”