MITA Annual report 2015

ANNUA L REPORT 2O15

The Agency’s mission:

ESTABLISH ICT POLICY AND DELIVER SOLUTIONS TO ENABLE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY. MITA does this by driving the development of Government’s ICT policy and national digital strategy, delivering information systems to enable reform and innovation in public service delivery as well as developing and providing ICT infrastructure and services for Government.

MITA actively supports students, start-ups and innovators in developing their ideas into products and services through digital technologies. It works with leading local and international ICT companies as well as encouraging the application and take-up of ICT in the wider Maltese economy.

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1

Executive Chairman’s Statement

5

2

Board Members

6

3

Executive Committee

7

4

Initiatives

9

5

Corporate Social Responsibility

37

6

Board Members’ Report

44

7

Independent Auditors’ Report

52

8

Financial Statements

54

Our commitment to ICT innovation remained at the forefront both through internal initiatives managed by our Innovation Hub, as well as through our support to various ICT educational initiatives.

EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

This year marks 25 years since the establishment of MITA, giving us the opportunity to commemorate our successes and look forward to embracing further challenges.

Information technology is considered as one of the key enablers for economic growth, and the use of technology devices, particularly mobile computing is increasing rapidly, becoming the preferred form factor for work and communication. MITA’s Strategic Plan 2015-2017 was one of the first initiatives to lay the foundations to move ahead in this mobility phenomenon.

Employee development and team building remained top priority to ensure that employees keep abreast of the emerging technologies particularly in the time when change is more rampant than ever before.

The preparation for the shift from e-government to m-government is bringing a new cultural capability and leadership skills. This is also contributing to the introduction of new models for organisation, new service delivery and new technology infrastructure.

Investment in the Data Centre infrastructure and services, including hosting, network services and connectivity facilities was predominant, ensuring our infrastructure remains scalable, highly-connected, secure and resilient to keep addressing the growing public sector computing resources needs.

We continued to invest in building internal knowledge to support Government to maintain secure and upto-date information systems. Systems and software

engineering remains an area of internal specialisation, through which in collaboration with the private sector, we ensure we continuously support the business needs, leveraging the technology trends to address the new and changing needs.

Our commitment to ICT innovation remained at the forefront both through internal initiatives managed by our Innovation Hub, as well as through our support to various ICT educational initiatives. MITA, together with the public and private sector, continued to offer students ICT relevant work experience to put in practice what they have learnt.

The 25 years of successful experiences, which have been commemorated actively throughout 2015, have brought all employees closer together. They provided the opportunity to remind us about our past, to celebrate our success stories and to remember the challenges that we experienced.

Now we have to look forward with a strong team spirit to the challenges ahead.

Mr Tony Sultana Executive Chairman

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BOARD MEMBERS Regular monthly Board meetings were held to ensure the overall Agency’s leadership, direction, finances and strategy support the Agency’s commitments and assure success. This year, the Board approved a total investment of €13,755,420 composed of internal and external projects, including procurement of infrastructure, consultancy services, outsourcing, and maintenance and support services.

The e-Government Benchmark Report 2015 published by the European Commission has once again reconfirmed Malta as leader in the delivery and performance of e-Government services. This is all attributed to the commitment and synergy that exists between the public administration and the Agency to remain citizen and business focused in supporting, improving and creating eServices. Additionally, Government in partnership with MITA looked further ahead and commenced the drafting of a strategy for leveraging technology to achieve further simplification of public administration through the provision of next generation mobile enabled online services, whilst aiming at increasing their take-up.

MITA is committed to manage energy responsibly and promote green office initiatives. A new solar energy project was implemented to further reduce the carbon footprint which, in addition to the implementation of more energy efficient equipment, has contained the Agency’s energy bills.

Mr. Tony Sultana

Mr. Joseph Agius

Ing. Saviour Baldacchino

Executive Chairman

Board Member

Board Member

Mr. Tony Borg

Dr. Helen Borg Muscat

Dr. Aron Mifsud Bonnici

Board Member

Board Member

Secretary to the Board

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Executive Committee Members Back Row: Mr. Rodney Naudi, Mr. Robert Galea, Dr. Godwin Caruana, Ing. Emanuel Darmanin, Mr. Raymond Navarro.

Front Row: Mr. Wayne Lee Valentine, Mr. Ivan Alessandro, Mr. Tony Sultana, Mr. Carmelo Formosa, Ing. Ian Bonello.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE The Executive Committee’s (EXCO) agenda for 2015 was prioritised in line with the Agency’s roadmap for 2015 – 2017 as defined in the strategic plan. EXCO conducted regular meetings, almost every four weeks, discussing operational and financial performance, risk management and human resource aspects, to attain the Agency’s objectives, realigning as necessary the roles and responsibilities to better deliver the initiatives of the business plan.

Government has once again entrusted MITA with the provisioning of various ICT services during the Valletta Summit and CHOGM 2015, which have been delivered diligently and contributed to the overall success of these major events.

Additionally, the new Parliament Building and Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre were inaugurated in 2015. The Agency was involved in the design, implementation and commissioning of a comprehensive data network and assisted in the ICT infrastructure migration process at both sites.

MITA Service Call Centre and Control Centre remain two critical functions that support the operations of the Government ICT landscape components, as well as the clients’ desktop support. More tools were procured to facilitate operations and the better management of Government solutions. Investments in the Data Centre facilities were continual to address the ongoing growth demands for managing internet services and supporting the hosting of collaborative and client information systems. The Agency was a key player in managing stakeholders to successfully deliver Government ICT projects, sustaining the public service in ICT forums at EU level, as well as assisting in drafting proposals for EU funding.

Team spirit was on top of the MITA agenda for 2015. A team building programme promoting employee initiative, creativity, planning, collaboration and problem solving, was another major initiative for sustaining the Agency’s culture and boosting cohesion amongst employees. The MITA conference held in December 2015 highlighted the Agency’s achievements throughout the year; a result of each and every employee’s commitment in attaining continuous successes.

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INITIATIVES

MITA OPERATIONAL BASIS - MITA is currently operating from three different locations; the Head Office at Gattard House in Blata l-Bajda, the Data Centre in Santa Venera, and the MITA Innovation Hub at Smart City, Kalkara.

The Executive Office together with Finance & Contracts, Technology Direction & eGovernment, Strategy & Business and Programme Management Departments operate from the Head Office.

The Data Centre houses the Service Management, Infrastructure Services, Governance, Risk & Compliance and Facilities Management Departments.

The MITA Innovation Hub provides an ideal environment for start-ups to create and develop their ideas.

The Management Systems Unit (MSU) established within the Office of the Prime Minister to act as a catalyst for the Public Service reform.

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Information Systems Division operating from Gattard House, Blata l-Bajda.

MSU operating from three bases: Consultancy Division from Villa Portelli, Kalkara; Information Centre from Project House, Floriana; and the Communication Strategy Group from the Office of the Prime Minister.

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E-MAILS 27,000 accounts 390,000 received per day 120,000 sent per day 176,000 tagged as spam per day

Employees from Swatar Government Computer Centre join MSU.

Establishment of the IT Call Centre for public service officials.

30 Local Area Networks (LANs) installed at key Government departments and five computer rooms set up in various ministries.

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SERVICE CALL CENTRE - During 2015 the Service Call Centre (SCC) received over 101,385 phone calls related to new or existing requests for assistance or intervention on users’ workstations. The primary KPI for the SCC services was successfully met as only 4.4% of phone calls were lost. The total requests logged during this year were nearly 176,000. Over 83,000 from them were requests for assistance, while the rest consisted of requests for new services.

EMAIL SERVICES – MITA has invested in new server infrastructure to ensure that the ever increasing demands of MITA’s clients are met. In parallel a number of improvements were implemented such as the increase in the mail size from 10Mb to 20Mb, the increase in the default recipient limit from 100 to 200 and an increase in the capacity of the backup infrastructure to cater for future demand.

LAND REGISTRY Issued 37,500 site plans

INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SPATIAL INFORMATION – As the competent Authority in terms of the implementation of the Directive and the National Spatial Data Infrastructure in Malta, MITA has embarked on a number of initiatives in 2015. These activities included the upgrade of the national Geoportal, the registration of the Geoportal with the European Commission INSPIRE Geoportal, the uploading of additional spatial data, the achievement of INSPIRE compliant metadata and the drafting of guidelines for data sharing.

Network services on the national Geoportal were also enhanced through the provision of web services. The national Geoportal was one of the finalists in the Best eGovernment Initiative category of the MCA eBusiness Awards 2015.

Setting up of a Geographical Information System (GIS) as a tool for planning and for maintaining infrastructure.

Electronic mail piloted within MSU, followed by the initial roll-out of the email service in six Government departments.

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NETWORKS Firewalls:120; Routers: 504 Switches: 2706; Network Points: 75,166;

SOCIAL SECURITY - MITA has developed a number of online services for the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity (MFSS) in order to simplify business processes and add new functional requirements. The services include various types of pensions (retirement, widows and invalidity), benefits (maternity and maternity leave) and allowances (unemployment, social and drug addiction). Furthermore, MITA implemented a number of major enhancements to the Sistema għall-Amministrazzjoni tal-Benefiċċji Soċjali (SABS), including the guaranteed national minimum pension, in-work benefit, child supplement and the automated assessment for children’s and supplementary allowance.

For this, MFSS was presented with an international award for Social Security Good Practice.

Network Cable: 4.9Kms;

MALTA GOVERNMENT NETWORK - MITA has entered into a seven year agreement with GO plc for the provision of fibre connectivity services, also known as MAGNET III. GO plc was chosen following the publication of a tender and through this agreement MITA is in a position to provide various connectivity options, while drastically reducing the recurrent outlay for connectivity services. During 2015, 64 sites were migrated to the new agreement while the remaining 58 fibre connected sites will be migrated throughout 2016.

Also in 2015, MITA published a tender for the provision of a Secure Connectivity Solution that comprises Data Centre next generation firewalls, Wide Area Network site firewalls and a central management platform. The five year agreement was awarded to ICT Solutions Ltd. Testing and commissioning is planned for early 2016, with Data Centre services migrations planned for the end of the year.

Implementation of the first internet node providing public service officials with access to the World Wide Web.

Deployment of various business applications, including (DAS), (VERA), (SABS) and the (CDB).

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PUBLIC REGISTRY Issued circa: 72,800 certificates Birth: 42,500; Marriage: 12,800 Death: 17,300; Adoption: 200

SOCIAL SECURITY Issued over 2.2m payments amounting to over €880m

INTERNET ACCOUNTS 15,000

MSU underwent a strategic review and restructuring process to focus more on Information Technology.

Commissioning of the Malta Government Network (MAGNET) as one corporate government wide area network.

First worker director elected by employees.

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The first IT training accreditation scheme with the National Computer Centre (NCC) Education held at the Swatar Training Centre.

MSU changed its name to Malta Information Technology and Training Services Limited (MITTS Ltd).

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PUBLIC SERVICES ONLINE - The Public Services Online project, co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF), was delivered to increase citizens’ use and awareness about a number of eGovernment Services.

The project was divided into three main components, namely a capacity-building seminar for key decision makers within Government; a training session for almost 400 Government officials to strengthen their competences and a research about the current use of eGovernment services.

A marketing campaign was also launched to raise awareness and provide information to the public and businesses about the respective eServices.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHS (STEM) CLUB – In 2015, more than 400 students joined 15 different summer clubs across Malta and enjoyed the fun activities offered through the MITA STEM Club. Five technology training providers partnered in this initiative and children aged between 7 and 13 years learnt about STEM subjects. Activities included programming of robots, building of balloon-powered cars and scientific experiments. This initiative provided a positive and fun experience for children and also encouraged them to consider STEM as a choice of subject.

TEACHERS ADVANTAGE – In 2015, over 12,000 educators from all State Schools, Church schools, Independent schools, MCAST, Higher Secondary and Gozo Sixth Form were eligible to apply for the same Office 365 ProPlus benefit as their students.

Moreover, all eligible participants were allowed to sync up to five different devices - PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Educators also get 1TB of free online space though OneDrive. This package is valued at €99 per educator per year. e-LEARNING SOLUTION – MITA assisted the Ministry of Education and Employment (MEDE) to deploy the Parental Portal with the objective to enhance communication between parents/guardians and schools.

This allows around 50,000 parents to better follow their child’s progress and keep more abreast of the activities ongoing in their classroom.

The CENTRIS programme included the distribution of 4,000 PCs and installation of the Schools Information System across all state schools.

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TRANSPORT – The Foreign Vehicles Registration, which is often referred to as Type 2, was developed and implemented together with a new registration module (including annual circulation permit) which allows the registration of used foreign registered vehicles with foreign plates, leased from an EU country, by Maltese residents.

CUSTOMS – The Customs Department, in collaboration with MITA, implemented the new National Export System (NES) for local exporters to lodge export declarations electronically. This system forms part of a much wider reform within the Customs Department to revamp both its import and export IT systems, to be compliant with the new Union Customs Code (UCC) and improve user experience for both Customs administration and businesses.

GOVERNMENT PAYROLL & HR – MITA entered into a long term contractual agreement with the current Government Payroll and HR solution provider for the provision of application support services. Furthermore, a Human Resource Management solution was procured to further enhance the functionality of the solution to facilitate the management of human resources in the public service.

Launching of the e-Government programme intended to provide online access to information and services to citizens and businesses.

All Government systems were successfully tested and upgraded to ensure Y2K compliance.

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EUROPEAN e-GOVERNMENT BENCHMARK Malta’s performance in the 2015 benchmarking exercise has been outstanding, with Malta leading on all top-level indicators across the combined services measured.

GOVERNMENT PAYMENT GATEWAY Over 540,000 payments amounting to over €84m

Commissioning of an Electronic Payment Gateway service to facilitate Government online payments for citizens and businesses.

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TAXATION 98% of Corporate Tax Returns submitted online €189m in electronic payments 86% of employees’ FS3 submitted online by their employers

e-JUSTICE Over 1.7m court acts accessible online by lawyers

Launching of the first ten e-Government flag-bearer services.

MITTS Ltd in partnership with the Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b’Dizabilitá (KNPD) established the Foundation for IT Accessibility (FITA).

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TAXATION - A consultation process has been undertaken with the Notarial Council to implement a system which allows notaries to submit the Promise of Sale and Property Transfer forms online. The first phase was implemented in the last quarter of 2015 when an online system to register foreign taxpayers was implemented. Consultations are ongoing on the next phase of the system. A Decision Support System (DSS) with Tax Return information was also implemented, providing the facility for Social Security Benefits to be issued, without the need for claimants to submit forms annually. MITA was commended by the EU Commission for the work in the field of IT Collaboration, with a letter of thanks addressed to MITA’s Executive Chairman and the Commissioner for Revenue. e-JUSTICE - MITA extended the Courts’ presence online through the introduction of additional online services, therefore acting as a fulcrum to the Justice Reform Programme.

These new eServices allow lawyers, legal procurators and notaries to have online access to over 166,000 civil cases held in the Courts Case Management System. Citizens are also given access to any Court acts filed in their name, allowing them to actively follow the notification process and thus increasing the transparency of the judicial system. There are currently over 37,000 Court Acts that fall in this category.

CORPORATE FINANCE MANAGEMENT – MITA deployed a new version of the Embassies Cash Management System across all Missions and Embassies representing Malta across the world (30+). This included web-based functionality offering improved administrative functions and customer service operations. In addition to the continuous day-to-day operational support to the Departmental Accounting System, MITA continued to assist the Ministry of Finance in the tender management process for the procurement of a Corporate Financial Management Solution. Apart from the tender management services, MITA is also represented in the Tender Adjudication Board offering technical consultancy as required.

Complete overhaul of Government email services, internet and network infrastructure. MAGNET replaced with MAGNET II, a state of the art network infrastructure.

Setting up of a disaster recovery facility for the Government’s corporate email services, Common Database, Inland Revenue systems and Departmental Accounting System.

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MITA CONFERENCE - MITA organised a full day conference on 11th December at the Hilton Malta Hotel. During this conference, which was the first of its kind, all employees were present to commemorate the achievements of 2015. The event celebrated the Agency’s work, as well as the various team building activities organised by the Agency’s employees.

A presentation was delivered by each Head of Department outlining the achievements of the department, as well as the Award nominations. During the conference all employees had the opportunity to acknowledge and vote live for the nominated individuals and teams.

TRAINING - Other than the normal training events, 2015 was accentuated with the attendance of our employees to a number of local and foreign conferences - the majority of which were ESF funded. A number of specialized classroom training courses were also organized in current and traditional technologies. Employees also continued to benefit from an increased attendance to internally organized classroom training delivered by MITA certified employees.

TEAM BUILDING EVENTS – Most of MITA’s employees helped in the organization of 17 team building events that met the expectations of different age groups and employees.

These included a fishing expedition, canoeing, cake pop, a BBQ, a music concert/live play, a cycling challenge, laser tag, grape harvest, geo cache, a harbour cruise, a survival challenge, kilo challenge, Ktieb riċetti mill-MITA, a philanthropic event, an exhibition, go-karting and the creation of the 2016 Calendar. Over 580 attendees, most of whom were MITA employees, participated in one or more of these events. More than €10,000 was collected through the hard work and generosity of MITA employees. The contributions were donated to Puttinu Cares, Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesú, Hospice Movement, Dar San Ġużepp, Birgu Scouts, Arka Foundation and Malta Guide Dogs.

21 employees sponsored for their graduate studies

Launching of the company values: People, Empowerment, Professionalism, Client Focus and Continuous Improvement.

Achievement of Investors In People certification.

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41 employees promoted to their next level in the Career STAFF GENDER MIX

Progression Framework

78 females 238 males

Government launched the National ICT Strategy 2006 - 2008 focusing on empowerment of local business, strengthening of the local ICT private sector and supporting ICT entrepreneurship.

Maltese embassies connected to MAGNET II.

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SERVERS 839 Virtual 506 Physical

Supported the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) events on core ICT services and developed the CHOGM Information Portal.

MITTS Ltd assumed responsibilities of ICT governance.

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COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING - During 2015 Malta hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and the Valletta Summit. Both events gave important international exposure to our country as they brought together important dignitaries and high profile personalities. MITA was entrusted with the provision of various ICT services which were delivered in the most diligent and successful way. The Agency took care of the setup; hosted and maintained the back end infrastructure and systems; and supported both events, including the respective public websites and accreditation systems. MITA also provided technical consultancy, ICT project management and support services prior and during the events.

Decommissioned 43 physical servers with an estimated cost saving of €86,000 per annum.

MALTA EU PRESIDENCY – MITA facilitated the deployment of further technology refresh initiatives at Dar Malta in Brussels, including an upgrade of the network implementation, the office automation and the active directory management solution. This is being done in preparation for the Malta EU Presidency period commencing in January 2017, which will see the local staff increase from 70 to around 200 personnel.

Commissioning of the consolidation platform to cater for Government’s office automation and email services.

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CYBER SECURITY GREEN PAPER - Entrusted with the development of the National Cyber Security Strategy, MITA established the pillars on which a Green Paper was formulated. These pillars address areas of strategic importance to cyber security namely related governance, risk management, education, awareness and related legislation. While all these goals aim to defend and protect the national information infrastructure, ultimately they want to ensure that users of cyber space are secure, safe and protected.

MITA RECONFIRMED AS COMPLIANT TO ISO STANDARDS - MITA was successfully reconfirmed as compliant to IS0 9001 and ISO 27001 after undergoing an external TickITplus surveillance. MITA’s level of focus, attention to detail and progress achieved in the preparation to align to the latest version of the standards (ISO 9001:2015) was classified by the Auditor as remarkable, particularly since it was accomplished with limited external support and with MITA’s own research effort.

KEEPING GOVERNMENT WEBSITES RESILIENT AGAINST POTENTIAL THREATS - MITA deployed a number of critical security upgrades in Government websites to increase their resilience against a range of potential threats. This forms part of the continuous investment to increase the security in Government websites infrastructure. Subsequently, the rating of Government websites by independent third-party website rating agencies has increased.

Responsible for the migration of all ICT services from St Luke’s Hospital to Mater Dei Hospital.

Numerous Government systems were successfully tested and upgraded to ensure EURO compliance.

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Achievement of ISO 9001:2008 certification issued by the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

Government launched the National ICT Strategy 2008-2010 – Smart Island.

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MITTS Ltd. transformed to Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA).

100 students engaged in the Student Placement Programme

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STUDENT PLACEMENT PROGRAMME 2015 - The Student Placement Programme (SPP) is a much awaited annual initiative which takes place during summer. This initiative facilitates summer placements for students who are studying ICT or ICT-related courses, within the private, public or voluntary sectors. In order to support the private and voluntary sectors in participating and employing students, Government provides a co-financing of the students’ salaries. In 2015, the programme was launched in April and the placements took place between July and September. Students had the benefit of 11 weeks of practical ICT experience in an organisational setting. MITA received 691 valid applications, from which a total of 347 were placed within the public sector, private industries and NGOs.

347 STUDENT PLACEMENTS 65% public sector, 30% private sector and 5% NGOs.

PROCUREMENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND SUPPORT SERVICES - In 2015, MITA engaged nine suppliers on new and running contracts for bespoke development.

Now with almost all of its in-house development teams partnering with private businesses, MITA affirmed its strategy to work with SMEs. An enabling tender inviting the private industry to participate in a framework agreement was published in July 2015.

The 2015 framework agreement was signed with 17 suppliers marking an increase of 7 participants from the previous year. Under this framework, during 2015, MITA issued requests for services pertaining to Intellectual Property Systems, Government Corporate Finance, and eGovernment to the value of â‚Ź700,000.

Setting up of eSkills Alliance Malta to assist in the sustaining of a productive and competitive workforce.

Achievement of ISO 27001:2005 Information Security Management standard.

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OUTSOURCING TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR - During 2015, MITA awarded 34 tenders with a total value of €8.04m. The major tenders included the procurement of a security information and event management solution, together with several provisions for the Government such as the Government Payment Gateway, workstations, a Secure Connectivity solution and WAN Connectivity. Another major tender was issued for the application and operational services on various IT systems. Additionally MITA generated €25,315,746 in revenue. Of this, €11,911,744 (or 47% of the total revenue) is attributed to solutions and services rendered by the private sector.

ENTERPRISE COLLABORATION - MITA provides two key shared services - the Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS) and the Enterprise Collaboration platform. The ECMS aims to reduce public facing website creation, together with hosting costs and time to clients. It also promotes a “One Government” concept through a unified brand and Life Events, while it improves content creation turn around. Currently, there are 74 government public facing sites hosted on the platform. The Enterprise Collaboration platform is aimed at enabling government entities to carry out their internal collaboration and document management activities together with the possibility to create their own intranets. Currently, this platform hosts 22 sites.

Inauguration of MITA Data Centre in Santa Venera with an investment of €7 million.

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135 websites hosted by MITA

PRIVATE SECTOR Almost €12m attributed to solutions and services rendered by the private sector

TENDERS MITA awarded 34 tenders with a total value of €8.04m

MITA Data Centre awarded several certifications Leadership in Public Sector, Public Sector Data Centre Project of the Year and the Tier III certification.

Launch of the Share Point based Gov 2.0 Enterprise CMS consolidating the majority of Government websites on a unified platform.

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ELECTRONIC ID CARDS Issued over 222,000

ePASSPORTS Issued over 47,000

New workstations procurement framework to achieve an average cost savings of 40% per annum over a period of five years.

Government launched the National Digital Strategy 2014-2020 – Digital Malta MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 32

ELECTRONIC IDENTITY - In 2015 MITA kicked off a significant initiative to simplify the authentication process for eGovernment services using the Electronic Identity (eID).

A number of measures were taken with Identity Malta to facilitate the acquisition of the eID by leveraging the acquired security of the new Identity Card in the mass rollout which was completed in 2015. MITA established a roadmap for the eID Authentication mechanism in consultation with various stakeholders including the Digital Malta Governance Board and the CIO Council.

SOCIAL MITA MOBILE APP – As part of MITA’s 25th Anniversary celebrations an in-house mobile app was built offering a number of features including dynamic content of news and events, a contacts directory and push notifications.

e-RESIDENCE PERMITS CARDS Issued over 32,000

MITA INNOVATION HUB - The MITA Innovation Hub (MIH) gives startups the opportunity to develop their first product which is designed to solve a defined problem using innovative approaches and technologies. In line with plans to develop an accelerator programme by 2016, MITA devoted great part of 2015 to experimental calls for startups. The first call involved two startups designing two innovative geo-location driven apps: the interactive Tarxien Neolithic temples app, and another app empowering citizens to view, acquire and report about development planning applications on a Google map.

The second call was dedicated to game-based learning. Two startups were involved in researching and designing three digital series games, one of which is currently supporting the learning of a Biology topic in state schools. MIH also built an important collaboration with the European Space Agency funded Eurisy consortium and the Malta Council of Science & Technology to organise a call for startups willing to experiment and develop prototypes using open satellite data generated by the Copernicus project. This programme, involving another three startups, is planned for completion in 2016.

Inauguration of MITA Innovation Hub at Smart City, Kalkara.

Student Advantage Scheme - Free Office 365 to over 40,000 students.

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AGRICULTURE – The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC) commissioned MITA to develop and implement the following solutions: (i) An Animal Welfare solution to manage the related measures announced in the 2015 budget speech; (ii) a solution to manage the traceability of Maltese Quality Agricultural products, and (iii) a Plant Health Solution for the management of aspects of import and export arrangements.

FUNDING SYSTEMS – MITA implemented the facility for Structural Funds to be paid via the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The Programme Management Module was also enhanced to include the Cohesion Policy (Structural Funds Database (SFD) 14-20 and the EU Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 14-20) administrative system was also developed.

HEALTH – In 2015, MITA took over the role of systems integrator for the Radiology Information System (RIS), the Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), and the Laboratory Information System (LIS), which support all state hospitals and clinics. Health information systems were also migrated to run on a newer Virtual Platform hosted at the MITA Data Centre.

MITA also implemented an Alternative Method to Create a Patient to Doctor relationship in order to improve take-up of the myHealth portal. This was extremely successful. In fact, during the first three months of its implementation as from the end of December, take-up increased by 320% when compared to previous years since the portal went live in 2012.

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AGRICULTURE Over 7,000 farmers, breeders and other beneficiaries received over €140m in EU funds for the 2007-2013 programme

LABORATORY SYSTEM RADIOLOGY SYSTEM

8,035,696 tests processed

256,665 investigations processed

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - COMMUNITY

Blood Donations

In a continuous commitment to contribute towards society, MITA and its employees have organised and participated in several initiatives throughout 2015. a. Fund Raising Activities and Monetary Donations Throughout 2015, MITA’s employees organised several fund raising activities. Some of these included an Easter raffle lottery, sales of books donated by MITA employees, collection of money in the staff canteen and Friday bashes.

The money collected was donated to various organisations and charities including Id-Dar talProvidenza, the Malta Guide Dog Foundation (MGDF), the ALIVE 2015 Cycling Challenge, the El Camino de Santiago de Compostela 2015, Dar Sagra Familja Zabbar and Hospice Malta. MITA and its employees also donated the sum of €5,000 for l-Istrina 2015. b. Donation of other items MITA employees have also helped families in need by providing them with clothes, accessories for babies and toys. Other items were collected and donated to charities. These were in turn sold and the funds were distributed to people in need.

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c. Technical Assistance During Xarabank’s fundraising programme for Puttinu Cares, 12 MITA volunteers helped answering the pledge line calls. They received more than 1,700 calls over 3 hours. MITA also helped Caritas during another programme of Xarabank. Once again, the volunteers assisted in handling the back-office function of answering pledge telephone calls and also entered the respective data on a web based application.

For the third consecutive year, MITA also took part in the Puttinu Cares Football Marathon. Volunteers handled the Puttinu Facebook page and other backoffice logistics. d. Non-technical Assistance MITA prepared and displayed flyers about the ALIVE 2015 Cycling Challenge where it encouraged its employees to participate in this event. This challenge has managed to collect over €135,000 towards breast cancer research and awareness. e. Office Furniture Donations MITA also helped several institutions by providing them with office furniture. These included St Augustine College, Wardija Special Needs School, MCAST and St Monica School in Birkirkara.

f. Donations in IT Equipment MITA donated IT equipment to Richmond Foundation, the Malta Community Chest Fund (MCCF), the Physically Handicapped Rehabilitation Fund (PHRF), the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), the Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF), the Ministry for Gozo and Aġenzija Appoġġ. The Agency also donated 16 Microsoft desktop licences to Kummissjoni Nazzjonali Persuni b’Dizabilitá (KNPD) and a laptop to a family in need at Dar Qalb ta’ Gesú. g. President’s Solidarity Fun Run A group of MITA employees, together with their relatives and friends, took part in the President’s Solidarity Fun Run 2015. The event was held on Sunday, 15th November. h. Sponsor of Christmas Parties for Children MITA sponsored the children Christmas parties of Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesú and Dar Merħba Bik. MITA CSR Committee sponsored the animation activity at the party held at Dar Qalb ta’ Ġesú, which included a puppet show, face painting and balloons for the children.

i. Blood donations and Sponsor of World Blood Donors Day MITA employees contributed regularly in donating blood at the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS). Several employees donated blood at NBTS in Gwardamangia in January, June, July, August and December.

The Agency also sponsored 16 tokens that were awarded to blood donors who have been donating blood for a number of years. The awards were given to the blood donors by the President of Malta, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. j. Assisting persons with disability having difficulty with ICT The Foundation for Information Technology Accessibility (FITA) launched an appeal for voluntary mentors to assist persons with disabilities in the development of ICT knowledge. Employees who volunteered for this work were granted the Charity leave entitlement.

President’s Fun Run

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 39

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY - ENVIRONMENT

Installation of an additional 20KW PV plant, thus the capacity of PV generation at MITA was effectively doubled from 20KW to 40KW. Reduction of 3.9% in its overall carbon footprint to a total of 2,294 tons of CO2.

Reduction of 3.8% in the emissions generated from its electricity consumption.

a. Carbon footprint reduction

b. Better use of resources

As part of its ongoing commitment towards the environment, MITA has taken various initiatives aimed to reduce its environment impact generated from its operations. During 2015, MITA has managed to attain a number of tangible improvements, namely:

Apart from reducing its carbon footprint, MITA has embarked on other effective measures to reduce the use of water by 53% and paper consumption by 5%.

• • •

Reduction of 3.9% in its overall carbon footprint to a total of 2,294 tons of CO2; Reduction of 2.8% in the emissions generated from its transport fleet; Reduction of 3.8% in the emissions generated from its electricity consumption.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 40

During 2015, MITA has introduced a waste separation process across its offices to promote recycling in line with the government’s waste management plans.

From a total of 110 tons of waste generated, 28% was recycled.

Reduction of 2.8% in the emissions generated from its transport fleet.

From a total of 110 tons of waste generated, 28% was recycled.

c. Further investment in renewable energy

d. Steps in the right direction

In its further commitment towards renewable energy, MITA has installed an additional 20KW PV plant, thus the capacity of PV generation at MITA was effectively doubled from 20KW to 40KW. In 2015, MITA has managed to increase its renewable generation to 1.42% of its electricity consumption. This was an equivalent of 36,950 kWh or the consumption of 10 households.

MITA implemented an ISO 14001 environmental management system which is a systematic and process driven approach to controlling those aspects of the business that have a significant impact on the environment.

Other steps which were taken to encourage a greener environment include the Green Campaign to raise awareness, an upgrade of LED lighting at MITA Data Centre Offices and dissemination of mugs to all employees to reduce the use of disposable cups.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 41

REPORTS AND FINANCIALS

BOARD MEMBERS’ REPORT for the year ended 31 December 2015 Board members

Mr Tony Sultana – Executive Chairman

Registered address Gattard House

Mr Anthony Borg

National Road

Ing. Saviour Baldacchino

Blata l-Bajda HMR 9010

Mr Joseph Noel Agius

Malta

Dr Helen Borg Muscat

Board secretary Dr Aron Mifsud Bonnici

The board members of the Agency present their annual report and the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2015.

Overview Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) is the central driver of Government’s information and communications technology policy, programmes and initiatives. The Agency is responsible for the delivery and management of all programmes related to the implementation of information technology and related systems in Government with the aim of enhancing public service delivery.

MITA also provides information and communications technology infrastructure services to Government. Additionally the Agency promotes and delivers programmes aimed at enhancing ICT education and the use of ICT as a learning tool. MITA is also involved in initiatives aimed at proliferating the further application and take-up of information and communications technologies in society and economy.

Core ICT Services to Government Throughout 2015, the provision of Core ICT Services to Government detailed by means of a contractual agreement between MITA and the Ministry for Economy, Investment and Small Business, continued to provide the basis for the provision of the core ICT infrastructure to Government.

Projects and Programmes The delivery of specific projects and programmes provided a significant portion of the Agency’s business during the year.

Specific programmes and deliverables included: i.

Agriculture – The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change (MSDEC) commissioned MITA to develop and implement the following solutions: (i) An Animal Welfare solution to manage the related measures announced in the 2015 budget speech; (ii) a solution to manage the traceability of Maltese Quality Agricultural products, and (iii) a Plant Health Solution for the management of aspects of import and export arrangements.

ii.

Corporate Finance Management – MITA deployed a new version of the Embassies Cash Management System across all Missions and Embassies representing Malta across the world (30+). This included web-based functionality offering improved administrative functions and customer service operations. In addition to the continuous day-today operational support of the Departmental Accounting System, MITA continued to assist the Ministry of Finance in the tender management process for the procurement of a Corporate Financial Management Solution. Apart from the tender management services, MITA is also represented in the Tender Adjudication Board offering technical consultancy as required.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 44

iii.

Customs – Through MITA’s support, the Customs Department deployed a new Export system. Apart from facilitating service delivery, the solution offers economic traders a robust, resilient and secure environment to manage customs declarations. MITA provided also business process re-engineering consultancy services, and thus provided recommendations to further enhance the Central Clearing System. MITA also deployed a mobile app to facilitate the Calculation of Customs Import.

iv.

Education – MITA assisted the Ministry of Education and Employment (MEDE) to deploy the Parental Portal with the objective to enhance communication between parents/guardians and the school. This allows around 50,000 parents to better follow their child’s progress and keep more abreast of the activities ongoing in their classroom. MITA supported MEDE to conclude a pilot project for the provision of Tablets to school children aimed to facilitate and enhance learning at school. Based on the pilot project outcome, MITA assisted the Ministry in the tender drafting process for the procurement of Tablets. MITA also assisted MEDE in the implementation of the Free Childcare information system.

v.

Fisheries – MITA has been entrusted by the Department of Fisheries to provide consultancy services with respect to a number of business areas. The Department is committed to implementing a number of information systems, with the first implementation being the new Fish Market Auction System.

vi.

Funding Systems – MITA implemented the facility for Structural Funds to be paid via the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The Programme Management Module was also enhanced to include the Cohesion Policy (Structural Funds Database (SFD) 14-20 and the EU Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF) 14-20) administrative system was also developed.

vii.

Health – In 2015, MITA took over the role of systems integrator for the Radiology Information System (RIS), the Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), and the Laboratory Information System (LIS), which support all state hospitals and clinics. Health information systems were also migrated to run on a newer Virtual Platform hosted at the MITA Data Centre. MITA also implemented enhancements to the myHealth Portal to facilitate the creation of Patient-to-Doctor relationship, initially deploying a pilot implementation involving 8 doctors and 432 individuals.

viii.

MyHealth Roadmap – MITA drafted a strategy and technology roadmap for the myHealth initiative, with the aim of transforming the myHealth portal into a platform aimed to enable the central provisioning of an Electronic Health Record through the integration of both public and private health information systems.

ix.

INSPIRE Directive – The National INSPIRE Portal was successfully implemented, making local available datasets and related metadata capable of being rendered from the European Commission Geo-portal.

Furthermore, ongoing meetings with other entities were held to further identify additional spatial datasets that can be made available for sharing through the Portal. The INSPIRE Portal has been chosen as one of the finalists for the 2015 MCA eBusiness awards.

x.

Justice – The Courts of Justice launched further e-Services that were developed by MITA, including a new case management system for the Legal profession. Functionality of this solution has been further extended to provide service also to the citizens, allowing them to query status information on the serving (by Court Marshals) of Court Acts that they are party to. The MyActs e-Service was launched in July, enabling citizens to monitor the status and progress in the notification of their Court and also view any court decrees (decisions/ orders) issued by the Courts of Magistrates.

xi.

E-Codex – MITA is actively participating to represent Malta in the e-Codex project. This project aims to improve the cross-border access of citizens and businesses to legal means in Europe, as well as to improve the interoperability between legal authorities within the EU. This year, MITA also hosted the e-codex General Assembly which gathered delegates from 24 partner states along with other representatives of institutes such as Council of the Notariats of the European Union (CNUE) and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 45

xii.

Government Payroll & HR – MITA entered into a long term contractual agreement with the current Government Payroll and HR solution provider for the provision of application support services. Furthermore, a Human Resource Management solution was procured to further enhance the functionality of the solution to facilitate the management of human resources in the public service.

xiii.

Malta Gaming Authority – MITA provided consultancy services to the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), including penetration test on the MGA infrastructure following their move to the new premises at Smart City. Furthermore, MITA was also entrusted to host MGA solutions at the Data Centre.

xiv.

Schengen – MITA carried out a number of enhancements and implemented the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), an interface between the National Police Systems and the Schengen solution. This aims to further tighten surveillance and border controls across the Schengen Area, by providing officers with pre-arrival manifest data on all passengers and crew members arriving from third party countries.

xv.

VISA Management – MITA assisted the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs implementing a number of enhancements to the VISA management system including: (i) upgrading of the VISA functionality in India and Russia, (ii) introduction of a new communication mechanism between member states; (iii) enhancement of the Biometric process, (iv) introducing the linking and unlinking function between applications, and (v) implementing new VISA issuance workflow specific for Border Police.

xvi.

Social Security – MITA completed a number of projects for the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity including the completion of the National Database for Persons with Disability, online forms – Injury benefit, Maternity benefit, Maternity Leave benefit, Social Assistance and Unemployment Assistance Claims. MITA delivered also major enhancement to the Child Supplements Grants to low-income families and payment management to Home Care Help Services for Pensioners systems. MITA is also developing an automated process for the handling of applications for refunds of Maternity Leave Benefit salary payments to employers. MITA has also deployed a Welfare Case Management System for Aġenzija Appoġġ. In the area of the Elderly and Community Care, MITA assisted the Ministry in the drafting of an Information Systems Strategy as a way forward plan to manage the various schemes operated by the Department.

xvii. Statistics – MITA was engaged by the National Statistics Office (NSO) to carry out an operational and architectural review of the NSO technical infrastructure. xviii. Taxation – MITA, apart from carrying out the continuous maintenance and support of the Taxation systems, has collaborated with the Commissioner of Revenue on several initiatives related to the 2015 Budget, along with carrying out business process improvements and assisting the Ministry during consultations with the business sector and stakeholders on the improvement and take-up of online services. MITA is also leading an EU Project Group, which is part of the IT collaboration Initiative with the EU Directorate for Taxation, to implement software for the Taxation Departments. This is being performed in collaboration with IT specialists from Finland, Sweden, Romania, United Kingdom and Italy. xix.

Transport – MITA developed and implemented the Foreign Vehicles Registration. Two new eServices in the driving license domain were also developed. These are the Learners’ Permit and the Practical Test Booking and Scheduling.

These eServices have doctors from the medical profession and the Motoring Schools, as fundamental stakeholders, apart from the citizens, contributing towards the successful implementation of the services. Discussions, demo sessions and training were also provided by MITA last year to the Medical Association and Motoring Schools.

xx.

Strengthening Competencies to Service the Public efficiently through e-Government – In cooperation with the Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary, MITA lead an EU-funded project aimed towards (i) researching best practices for e-Government implementation and management; (ii) capacity building and training programme aimed to strengthen e-Government skills and knowledge amongst public and local government officials; and (iii) invest into an educational campaign to raise citizen awareness and usage of e-Government services.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 46

xxi.

eGovernment – MITA successfully migrated all eServices consuming the Government Payment Gateway (GPG) to the new service provider. During 2015 MITA processed 541,620 transactions through the GPG adding to a total value of €84,023,633. At the end of 2015, the amount of transactional eGovernment services amounted to 152, facilitating services to the citizen and the economic sector.

xxii.

Identity Management – MITA built an application for reading biographic data directly from the new ID Card without the use of a PIN code, making it more user friendly. Furthermore, the security of the application has been enhanced through the adoption of appropriate physical and operational measures. MITA also attended the first meeting of the eIDAS Cooperation Network (re. Regulation (EU) N°910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services), a forum to exchange relevant informant, experience and good practice.

xxiii. Notification Platform – Further to the outcome of a scope study conducted in 2014, MITA invested in an initiative to replace the myGov service infrastructure to a newer technology and introduce new functionality and channels to cater for emerging communication trends. xxiv. Empowering Senior Citizens with Digital Skills – MITA embarked on a project aimed at empowering senior citizens with basic digital skills. Training courses were delivered by IT savvy senior citizens who were engaged purposely to deliver the training content, which was specifically designed and developed for this audience. The course also provided the opportunity for the attendees to make use of notebooks and tablets. xxv. Gov 2.0 Enterprise CMS - MITA initiated a project to implement a centralised platform to provide Document Collaboration Services (CMS) to the Government. The primary focus of the project is to setup a corporate shared service which will enable clients to collaborate and share documents within internal government business functions and between initiatives across government. xxvi. One Stop Shop – MITA assisted the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in the procurement process of a One-Stop-Shop solution. Following the identification of the winning bidder, MITA is further assisting OPM by providing technical consultancy, and hosting and licensing services. xxvii. Enterprise Storage & Virtualisation Platforms – A new Enterprise Storage and Virtualisation Platform was implemented, bringing about benefits including operational savings, improved scalability and better server management. xxviii. Oncology Centre – MITA commissioned a comprehensive wireless and wired data network within Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre. The data network allows workstations, laptops and tablets, together with medical equipment to access ICT health systems hosted in MITA’s Data Centres, together with other corporate services such as mail and internet. Clients making use of the wired and wireless network include medical personnel, administrative personnel, in and out patients and guests visiting the Oncology Centre. Apart from legacy data services and medical services, the data network also caters for the connectivity of ancillary services such as closed circuit camera systems, building management services, and telephony (VoIP). xxix. House of Representatives (New Parliament Building) – MITA implemented a comprehensive wireless and wired data network within the New Parliament Building. The data network deployed allows network hosts, consisting of workstations, laptops and tablets, to communicate and access ICT services hosted on-site, at MITA’s Data Centres and on the Internet. The clients who will make use of the wired and wireless network include HOR personnel, Members of Parliament, civil servants and guests visiting the building. Moreover, MITA was also requested to assist the House of Representatives (HOR) in the migration process from its offices at the Grandmaster’s Palace to the new Parliament site.

A new server was deployed, including a back-up solution to host the HOR office automation requirements. This offers higher availability and increased file sharing performance. xxx. Dar Malta, Brussels – MITA facilitated the deployment of further technology refresh initiatives at Dar Malta, including an upgrade of the network implementation, and the Office Automation and the Active Directory management solution. This is being done in preparation for the Malta EU Presidency period commencing in January 2017, which will see the local staff increase from 70 to around 200 personnel. A MITA employee was seconded to support the Malta Permanent Representation to offer technical services onsite.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 47

xxxi. Gozo General Hospital – MITA completed the network upgrade at the Gozo General Hospital, including the deployment of new Network Active Equipment. The new network setup is based on dual fibre technology offering increased resilience for business continuity. xxxii. WAN Fibre Links – MITA entered into a long term contractual agreement with a local telecommunications provider to provide WAN fibre connectivity links for Government. Through this contract, apart from reaping considerable cost saving for Government, MITA can provide diversified methods of redundancy and bandwidth options to satisfy diverse client business requirements. All 68 MAGNET II extra connectivity sites were thereafter migrated to connect to the new fibre. Moreover, this permitted the introduction of Guest Internet services within public sites. xxxiii. MITA Head Office Connectivity Upgrade – MITA Head Office WAN connection was upgraded to 200Mbps in order to allow faster access to corporate application hosted at the MITA Data Centre. Similarly, the Guest Internet bandwidth was upgraded to 100Mbps at both MITA Head Office and Data Centre sites. xxxiv. Launch of Green Paper – National Cyber Security Strategy - MITA has been entrusted by Government with the development of the National Cyber Security Strategy, of which the Green Paper issued forms the initial stage of its establishment. The Green Paper addresses goals of strategic importance to cyber security namely, related governance, risk management, education, awareness and legislation – all aimed at defending and protecting the national information infrastructure and ultimately ensuring the security, safety and protection of users of cyber space. xxxv. Security of Government websites – As part of the continuous investment to further secure Government websites infrastructure, MITA deployed a number of critical security upgrades to increase resilience against a range of potential threats. Rating of Government websites has thereafter increased substantially by the independent third-party website rating agents. xxxvi. ISO / TickITplus Certification – MITA underwent an external TickITplus surveillance and was successfully reconfirmed as compliant against ISO 9001 and ISO 27001. The Auditor classified the level of focus, attention to detail and progress achieved in the preparation to align to the latest version of the standards, i.e. ISO 9001:2015, as remarkable, particularly since this was accomplished with limited external support and MITA’s own research effort. xxxvii. Operational Support Services - During 2015 the Service Call Centre received over 101,385 phone calls related to new or existing requests. Primary Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the Service Call Centre services was successfully met given that only 4.4% of phone calls were abandoned (KPI target states that this figure should not exceed 7%).

Requests were also triggered from emails and from the eRFS system – thus, bringing the total number of requests logged during the year to nearly 176,000. Over 83,000 of these were Incidents while the rest consisted of Tasks and Requests for Service. xxxviii. Free Office 365 for all Teachers - Government in alliance with the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA), the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) and Microsoft Malta announced a €1.2 million investment that enabled educators to access the same Office 365 ProPlus benefit as their students through the Teacher Advantage Scheme. Through this initiative, 12,000 educators in all State Schools, Church schools, Independent schools, MCAST, Higher Secondary and Gozo Sixth Form, were entitled to benefit from this offer. xxxix. Valletta Summit & CHOGM – The Valletta Summit and CHOGM 2015 have given Malta international prominence across the globe, hosting dignitaries and high profile personalities. Government has once again trusted MITA for the provisioning of various ICT Services, which have been delivered diligently and contributed towards the success of these major events. MITA set up, hosted and maintained the backend infrastructure and systems to support the events, including public websites and Accreditation Systems. Additionally, MITA provided technical consultancy, ICT project management and other ICT support services both prior and during the events period. xl.

Student Placement Programme 2015 – MITA, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth, launched the 2015 Student Placement Programme (SPP). SPP provides students the opportunity to gain relevant ICT work experience, whilst allowing employers to engage temporary additional resources competent in ICT-related skills. This year’s programme offered 347 students placements in the public service and public sector, private industries and NGOs.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 48

xli.

National Coding Competition - MITA together with the Ministry of Education and Employment and the University of Malta organized a National Coding Competition targeting both male and female students from Year 5 up to Form 5 with a view to encouraging a choice in STEM subjects. The aim of this competition was to demystify “code” and show that everyone is able to be a maker, a creator, and an innovator in a digital economy. The competition attracted 216 students from 26 schools (state, church and independent). In total, the students submitted 92 digital games.

xlii.

STEM Easter Club - MITA organised a STEM Easter Club edition at the Verdala Boys’ Secondary School. This initiative was aimed to raise awareness on eSkills education, careers and integrating critical skills across educational and formative experiences of both students and educators. Around 30 students from Verdala Boys Secondary School and Zejtun Girls Secondary School, aged between 10 and 13 participated in this event. Students were divided into groups and together with third year B.Ed Science students, worked on different STEM inspired projects.

xliii.

Mobile APPs developed by start-ups for MEPA and Heritage Malta - In line with government’s policy to stimulate innovation and instil an entrepreneurial mind-set among the young, MITA awarded two grants of €15,000 each to two start-ups that won the Start-APP €15K challenge. Start-APP €15K was a competition targeting start-ups which had to propose solutions for the resolution of ‘pain points’ in the area of development planning and cultural heritage using mobile app technology in combination with public data made available specifically for the project by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA) and Heritage Malta.

xliv.

STEM Summer Club 2015 - This summer, more than 450 children, 15 summer clubs and 5 technology training providers have partnered in this initiative. Through hands-on activities, children ages 7-13 learned about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) subjects. Activities include programming robots, building balloonpowered cars, and conducting scientific experiments.

xlv.

Grant Award for successful Erasmus + funding application – MITA received a grant for a successful Erasmus + funding application titled ‘Games-based Learning to Alleviate Early School Leaving (GBL4ESL)’. The project targets games-based learning training to secondary school educators based on European and International best practices, whilst engaging students in serious digital game play related to English and Maths to help motivate them to stay in school. This involves both local and international partners, including the University of Malta and Donau University, Austria. In addition, educators and students from the Verdala Boys’ School, Cospicua, Zejtun Girls’ School and the Nystromska Secondary School, Sweden will work together on the games-based learning teaching scenarios, test the toolkit in class and attend training sessions in Malta and Austria.

xlvi.

Malta’s first educational games tried and tested by students - MITA Innovation Hub (MIH) organised the ‘GamifyIT’ play-testing event during which 22 students within the 13-15 age group play-tested two digital serious games being developed by two start-ups, Oddingo and SquareScope.

xlvii. Students develop history game - As Malta is commemorating the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of Malta, MITA in collaboration with Heritage Malta, has launched a digital serious game aimed for form 2 students. This game is to provide a more interactive and engaging experience of this historical event. This digital serious game is another initiative by the MITA Innovation Hub.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 49

BOARD MEMBERS’ REPORT

(CONTINUED)

for the year ended 31 December 2015

Financial Review In spite of the tight Government budget allocations, the overall financial performance of the Agency was a positive one, with a reported net surplus before tax of €144,153. Revenue from the provision of projects and ICT service to Government reached €25,315,746, down by 9% from 2014 results.

MITA also continued its investment programme to enhance and expand Government underlying infrastructure, with total investment for the year amounting to €2,053,335. Operational costs decreased by 12% over 2014 as MITA continued in its efforts to manage and contain costs.

Corporate Governance The Board Audit Committee (BAC) supports the works of the MITA Board in terms of overseeing the Internal Audit Office whilst enabling the objective assessment of the performance of the Agency, its management and its internal and external auditors. The BAC is currently chaired by Dr Helen Borg Muscat, with the other members being Mr Vincent Marmara and Mr Jurgen Zammit.

The Internal Audit Office (IAO) aims to ensure an independent disciplined approach in evaluating and improving internal controls while adding value to the Agency’s operations. During 2015, IAO conducted a number of internal audit initiatives in line with a risk based audit plan as commissioned and approved by the BAC. Audits performed were both technical and also operational in nature and included, process improvements and lessons learnt reviews, due diligence exercises, follow-ups, and NAO Audit Reports issues’ escalation to NAO management where MITA was involved. This year, IAID requested IAO to forward them its IAO plan and audit assignments for Governance purposes.

MITA IAO works in ascertaining that the Agency’s internal controls are reliable, that its reporting arms are accurate, ethics are maintained, oversight is effective, risks are mitigated and investments are protected.

Board Members’ responsibilities The Agency’s statute requires the board members to prepare consolidated financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the agency and of the profit or loss of the agency for that year, in accordance with the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU. In preparing these the board members are required to: - adopt the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the agency will continue in business; - select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - account for income and charges relating to the accounting period on the accruals basis; - value separately the components of asset and liability items; and - report comparative figures corresponding to those of the preceding accounting period.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 50

The board members are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy, at any time, the financial position of the agency. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the agency and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The consolidated financial statements of MITA for the year ended 31 December 2015 may be made available on the Agency’s website. The board members are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the consolidated financial statements on the website in view of their responsibility for the controls over, and the security and jurisdictions, where legislation governing the preparation and dissemination of consolidated financial statements may differ from requirements or practice in Malta.

This report was approved and authorised for issue by the Board Members on 14 April 2015, and signed on its behalf by:

Mr Tony Sultana

Mr Anthony Borg

Executive Chairman

Board member

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 51

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT to the Members of Malta Information Technology Agency

We have audited the accompanying consolidated financial statements of Malta Information Technology Agency, which comprise the Statement of Financial Position as at 31 December 2015, and the Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income, Statement of Changes in Accumulated Fund and Statement of Cash Flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and other explanatory notes.

Board Members’ Responsibility for the Consolidated Financial Statements The board members are responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU. This responsibility includes: designing, implementing and maintaining internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of consolidated financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.

Auditors’ Responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these consolidated financial statements based on our audit. We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the consolidated financial statements are free from material misstatement.

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 52

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgement, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to the entity’s preparation and fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the entity’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the board members, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements.

We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion.

Opinion In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of Malta Information Technology Agency as at 31 December 2015 and of its financial performance and its cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU.

Mr Manuel Castagna for and on behalf of Nexia BT Certified Public Accountants The Penthouse, Suite 2 Capital Business Centre, Entrance C Triq taz-Zwejt San Gwann SGN 3000 Malta Date : 14 April 2015

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 53

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS AND OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME for the year ended 31 December 2015 2015

2014

€

€

Revenue

25,315,746

27,756,532

Cost of Sales

(18,903,114)

(21,409,827)

Gross Surplus

6,412,632

6,346,705

Reversal of / (Provision for) cost of service pensions

(149,065)

56,106

payable to Government Administrative expenses Operating surplus

Interest receivable and similar income Share of results of the associate Finance costs Surplus before taxation Income Tax

(6,132,228)

(5,887,829)

131,339

514,982

13,038

25,663

-

-

(224) 144,153 (130,080)

(39) 540,606 (184,194)

Surplus for the year

14,073

356,412

Total Comprehensive Income

14,073

356,412

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 54

STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITIONS as at 31 December 2015 2015

2014

â‚Ź

â‚Ź

5,643,887

5,346,833

33,776

33,776

ASSETS Non-current assets Property, plant and equipment Investment in subsidiary

20,000

20,000

291,303

191,650

5,988,966

5,592,259

19,474

48,454

3,727,181

4,492,380

423,588

401,263

6,413,614

6,428,852

10,583,857

11,370,949

16,572,823

16,963,208

Accumulated fund

1,545,418

1,531,345

Capital reserve

4,542,497

-

6,087,915

1,531,345

Investment in associate Deferred taxation Current assets Inventories Trade and other receivables Current tax recoverable Cash at bank and in hand Total assets FUNDS AND LIABILITIES Fund

Non-current liabilities Trade and other payables Provision for liabilities and charges Current liabilities Trade and other payables Short term borrowings Provision for liabilities and charges

-

5,094,497

1,141,138

1,083,156

1,141,138

6,177,653

9,252,074

9,000,906

-

133

91,696

253,171

Total liabilities

9,343,770

9,254,210

10,484,908

15,431,863

Total funds and liabilities

16,572,823

16,963,208

The consolidated financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Board Members on 14 April 2015, and signed on its behalf by:

Mr Tony Sultana

Mr Anthony Borg

Executive Chairman

Board member

MITA ANNUAL REPORT 2015 | 55

NOTES

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