MITTZ 2000

MALTA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING SERVICES LIMITED

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2000 CONTENTS

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Chairman’s Statement

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Taking On The New Millennium

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Strengthening For The Future

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Our Workforce Is Our Asset

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A Decade Of Achievements

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Service-Oriented

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Initiatives And Achievements

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Milestones Of 2000

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The MAGNET

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e-Government

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Future Challenges

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MITTS LTD ANNUAL REPORT 2000

CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT As the global impact of the information age gathers momentum, MITTS Ltd is engaged in an ongoing process of upgrading and change to embrace the new and exciting challenges that emerge.

I am pleased to record that MITTS Ltd 's performance in the past year has been outstanding. Our staff have proved their ability to be flexible and creative. They have responded in positive and innovative ways to the tasks put before them. MITTS Ltd has delivered better results more consistently. The results reflect the work and dedication of all who make up MITTS Ltd to-day. The skills and commitment of staff members continue to be vital ingredients in the success of our Company. The dawn of the new millennium saw the consolidation of our organisational framework. Initiated during 1999, a successful Corporate restructuring has enabled MITTS Ltd to respond faster to the requirements of our customers in an ever changing scenario. Restructuring has been followed up by a very substantial investment in human resources and the technology infrastructure - an investment deemed necessary for MITTS Ltd to continue to consolidate its position as a leading edge service provider.

The Government’s current thrust towards the attainment of e-Government has opened new avenues of opportunity for our Company which secure our future. Yet we have to continue to be innovative, flexible and smart. e-Government is all about putting the citizen at the heart of the Information Society. It is about providing the individual with the keys to his or her own personal information. It is about improving the cost effectiveness of doing quality business with Government electronically.

It is about empowerment - and it is a revolution.

MITTS Ltd has already established itself on various working groups as a key player in assisting the Central Information Management Unit at the Office of the Prime Minister in pushing forward this ambitious project of e-Government.

MITTS Ltd has been involved in the technical preparation of the legal framework which shall serve to regulate business, protect personal information and provide redress in an electronic marketplace. MITTS Ltd has been participating in initiatives to see a more IT literate society on one side, and a more IT literate Public Service on the other.

The Government’s European Union accession programme shall also inevitably continue to require much work to be

done. In order to fulfil the obligations of membership, several IT applications would need to be enhanced, and new ones developed. MITTS Ltd is already investigating the implications that membership obligations would have on existing and future systems. Consequently, more pressure will be placed upon MITTS Ltd to deliver quality products in an environment already competing for limited resources.

The increased workload resulting from new Government initiatives has to-date necessitated MITTS Ltd to solicit a stronger partnership with the private sector. Through the implementation of outsourcing agreements and subcontracting frameworks, we hope to involve the private sector in many of our initiatives. This strategy shall enable us to re-direct our resources towards core Government business. This shall in turn provide us with the necessary human-resource capacity to fulfil our obligations.

Today, the combined effects of strong corporate governance and a pervasive customer service culture enables MITTS Ltd to maintain its position as Malta’s leading IT solution provider. We shall strive to maintain this role by continuing to deliver solid value, and excellent

products and services to our clients - we shall continue to deliver on our promise to provide the very best. And in doing so we shall continuously and aggressively re-invest and re-engineer ourselves to ensure that we are operating efficiently, effectively and economically to the benefit of our clients within the Public Service, our staff and our shareholders.

It remains a privilege and a pleasure to chair the MITTS Ltd Board of Directors and in doing so provide policy direction to the Executive Management team. This Annual Report shows that MITTS Ltd is performing well, is excellently placed to take advantage of prevailing opportunities and is investing heavily to maintain a sustainable ICT infrastructure. As we embark on a new financial year, we remain fully committed to our clients' success.

Finally, I must thank my colleagues on the Board for their support as well as the CEO, his Top Management team and all the staff of MITTS Ltd for another extremely successful year. Their commitment and professionalism has been outstanding and together, we plan to play an increasingly significant part in our country’s future.

We face this exciting future with confidence.

J R Grima Chairman

3 Board Mambers left to right: Joseph W Izzo, Joseph R Grima - Chairman, Paul Galea, Anna McKenna, Anthony Diacono.

A DYNAMIC AND EVOLVING ENVIRONMENT

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TAKING ON THE NEW MILLENNIUM Despite a smooth transition into the new millennium following the hard work put in by MITTS Ltd staff in preparation for the Y2K, the rest of 2000 was, nonetheless, characterised by on-going and newly emerging exciting challenges. The world's dynamic and ever-evolving IT environment imposes on MITTS Ltd the need to constantly review the quality of its services, the cost-effectiveness of its processes, the profile of its skills base.

MITTS Ltd role is to assist Government through the effective implementation of ICT to deliver an optimal service to its constituent publics.

Our Client‌ the Government Government’s vision of facilitating interaction between the citizen and government services through e-Government as well as the transformation of existing processes demands that MITTS Ltd focuses its energies on making available the best possible solutions that the technology can provide. In this regard, MITTS Ltd aligned its business focus purely to Government. Moreover, MITTS Ltd is supporting Government's ICT strategies on a macro level by assisting the eMalta Commission.

FOR ENHANCED EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS

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The period under review has been marked by our continued commitment to the development of our organisational structure to enable us to properly address and improve our customer service levels.

During the year 2000, a number of key corporate functions such as Strategy and Planning, Internal Audit, Quality Assurance and Performance Monitoring were established within the Office of the Chief Executive Officer.

The responsibilities of the Strategy and Relationships Management (SRM) Department were further refined during the year to focus on fostering better relationships with both clients and major suppliers.

In this regard, the Contracts and Supplier Management Unit was set up with the aim of bringing together and consolidating the handling of tenders, negotiations and contracting.

Coherent to its primary function, the SRM Department has also been assigned the responsibility to establish a Service Call Centre, for which the preparatory framework was implemented during the past year. The aim of the Centre, which is planned to come into operation during the second half of 2001, will be to provide a one-stopshop service to our clients and to provide first line support over the phone on a 24x7 basis.

The Information Technology Consultancy Services (ITCS) Department was instrumental in the development of various policies and standards for Central Information Management Unit (CIMU) within the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Through its various newly established units, the department contributed to the development of the latest technology for the attainment of e-Government.

With security being considered as crucial, particularly with the advent of e-Government, a Security Management Unit was established within the ITCS Department. One of the leading priorities in this field was the issuance of a tender for external consultants to assist MITTS Ltd in drawing up a three-year security strategic plan.

The Enterprise Architecture Unit was also set up within the ITCS Department with a mandate to devise for CIMU the necessary frameworks, standards and policies to ensure smoother interoperability of systems within Government, and facilitate the sharing of data. A direct output of this initiative was a Desk Top and Servers Operating Systems Technology Road Map. Other units established within the ITCS Department in 2000 include the Consultancy Unit, the Technology Units and the Information Resource Management (IRM) Unit.

Whilst the Consultancy Unit was mainly assigned responsibility for providing assistance and advice to internal project teams working on specific Government IT projects, the Technology Units’ main function was to carry out applied Research and Development with the objective of identifying the latest technologies in the IT field. The IRM Unit’s particular focus was the articulation of the Data Architecture Standards to be applied for new Government applications. The scope of these standards is to be extended to embrace e-Government metadata layers.

Staff members of the IRM Unit also formed part of the Drafting Committee for Cyber Legislation.

During the year 2000, the Support Implementation and Maintenance Services (SIMS) Department held several workshops to identify improvements required to further strengthen its performance. This triggered off a re-alignment exercise, which was underway by October 2000, and the setting up of an Internal Co-ordination Unit, responsible for attaining ISO 9001 certification and the establishment of service management standards. The Department further saw the setting up of a Logistics Team together with its associated functions. Additionally our technical support complement was organised in a number of Technical Service Units directed to provide comprehensive clientfocused services and support.➺

MITTS LTD ANNUAL REPORT 2000

STRENGTHENING FOR THE FUTURE

Executive Committee Left to Right: Rohan Debono, Claire Asciak, David Spiteri Gingell - Chief Executive Officer, Raymond Navarro, John Zahra, Peter Bugeja.

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STRENGTHENING FOR THE FUTURE

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The vast amount of projects that were underway also necessitated the introduction of an outsourcing mechanism required to relieve workloads at site support and core technology services. Effectively, the outsourcing option undertaken during the year 2000 was also being considered as a pilot for evaluation for an eventual outsource management framework that was planned for 2001.

During the year 2000, the Information Systems Services Department (ISSD) closely looked at MITTS’ Ltd future vision. The demand for e-Government was identified as one of the highest priorities and as such ISS Department embarked on detailed planning to establish how best the department can be structured and organised to meet future needs. One area that was clearly identified was the need for a core team to spearhead the systems integration that would be demanded by the e-Government initiative.

Hence plans were put in place for a Centralised Core Team to be set up within ISS Department to provide such services to all project teams. The creation of common components for e-Government related deliverables, would eventually also be the responsibility of this team.

ISS Department also worked closely with our Human Resources (HR) Department to identify the training needs that the e-Government initiative would demand. Training needs were identified, for skills such as XML, Java, HTML and others, and an extensive training programme was scheduled for delivery in 2001.

For the HR Department, the year 2000 was a challenging one with new functions such as organisational development, workplace innovation and the role of a change agent being introduced. However, the department’s main thrust during the year was set on a company-wide re-classification exercise whereby position descriptions were benchmarked and where necessary reviewed to reflect duties and responsibilities normally found in international IT companies.

CARING FOR OUR PEOPLE...

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OUR WORKFORCE IS OUR ASSET The philosophy of MITTS Ltd is based on investment in its most valuable asset - its human resources upon which MITTS Ltd’s end product – technology – is ultimately dependent. Thus, MITTS Ltd is highly recognisant that its success is, indeed, based on the motivation, skills and dexterity of its workforce.

In essence, MITTS Ltd major asset is knowledge and it is imperative that its knowledge base remains current. In a highly dynamic environment, the pressure of maintaining the knowledge base is a challenge in its own right and requires considerable funding. Moreover, in September 2000, the Board adopted the principle that MITTS Ltd, as an IT organisation, should champion new working practices brought into play by technology and the design of a pilot framework for the introduction of teleworking was initiated.

Aware of the importance of attracting and retaining staff, in 2000 MITTS Ltd embarked on an initiative to instill the concept of a caring organisation and facilitate the life of working mothers and single parents through a Child Care Scheme.

Additionally, a team-building exercise aimed at reaching all members of the workforce was initiated with a two-day programme for the Executive Committee, held in November 2000.

TRAINING INITIATIVES "The focus is on the people".

The need to re-skill staff and carry out appropriate retraining is critical to MITTS Ltd’s ability to deliver effectively and efficiently. The upgrading of skills is strongly felt and required if MITTS Ltd in the services it offers to its clients is to remain abreast with rapidly changing technologies and supporting tools.

During the year 2000, MITTS Ltd increased its training budget substantially to be able to embark on a number of

training initiatives aimed at obtaining currency in evolving technologies through local and overseas training, as well as staff participation in seminars and conferences from which new trends and developments emerge. Apart from the on-going company-wide training initiatives, last year’s training efforts were primarily concentrated on our networking staff, who followed CISCO-certified courses, and on our applications development staff who were required to acquire skills crucial to e-Government.

Concurrently, MITTS Ltd encouraged employees to take the initiative to improve their knowledge and skills. In 2000 the Company funded several members of staff to further their studies, whilst a new scheme encouraging MITTS Ltd professionals to take up membership with professional institutions to keep abreast with new developments, was also introduced.

Apart from its own internal HR development, during the year 2000 MITTS Ltd also contributed externally to help alleviate the problem of shortage in the local IT labour market supply. A two-year agreement - an example of a fruitful public-private partnership - was entered into with the OPM and Nucleus for the management of the Swatar Training Facilities. As a result of this, the number of National Computer Centre (NCC) students being trained at Swatar has increased from under 50 to over 200.

The Swatar Training Centre has also won a Government tender for the training of Senior Government Officers in Information Management.

Another initiative that was triggered off during the year was the revamping of the student Under-Graduate Traineeship Scheme which has been extended to encompass second, as well as third and final-year students in the ITrelated courses. This initiative was complimented by the initiation of discussions with the Department of IT of the University of Malta to set up an industry to academia partnership.

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CELEBRATING...

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A DECADE OF ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2000, MITTS Ltd celebrated its 10th Anniversary - a decade of achievements that have resulted in the establishment of a network throughout the Public Service of a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, connecting Ministries, Departments and Local Councils in a seamless and consistent manner.

The Communications Unit within the SRM Department was responsible for the organisation of the Anniversary activities, the highlight of which was a National Conference titled ‘Attaining eMalta - Pushing Back the Frontiers’. The one-day conference, which is intended to become an annual event, was last year aimed at underpinning the role of MITTS Ltd in pushing back the frontiers and attaining eMalta. Intended as a launching pad for a more co-ordinated approach towards achieving eMalta, it discussed fundamental issues such as affordability, accessibility and the digital divide.

The Anniversary activities also included an exhibition to project the enormous advancement in the use of IT during the previous 10 years, as well as the donation of PCs to three charitable institutions.

CARING FOR THE CLIENT...

SERVICE ORIENTED The year 2000 saw the initiation of the establishment, within SRM Department, of the Service Call Centre, which is currently in operation internally and handling 65% of the external incidents. The major objective of the Centre, is the introduction of remote troubleshooting to resolve a high percentage of problems over the telephone and, therefore, providing a faster and more effective service to the Client, as well as reducing the number of staff sent out on site and thereby inducing efficiencies. The objective is for MITTS Ltd to withdraw from the provision of PC firstlevel support by targeting, over the next three years, the remote and electronic resolution of 50 per cent of the incidents recorded, with the subsequent 50 per cent to be outsourced to the private sector. This is directed to allow MITTS Ltd to migrate its in-house resources, by means of reskilling and re-training, towards core technologies, such as the e-Government Superhighway, Internet, Networking and Database Administration. Based on the information gathered through the Centre, MITTS Ltd will adopt an aggressive proactive stance allowing preventive measures to be implemented. The Service Call Centre is a conscious step forward to improve the quality of service by the Company and is expected to mark a material difference in the way MITTS Ltd operates.

As a service-oriented organisation, MITTS Ltd is also looking at new technologies for remote management of PCs, servers, hardware and the network itself, with more emphasis on reducing the cost of providing and maintaining the physical continuity of the network. Aiming at creating a service-based culture, it is also embarking on a service management review, evaluating the service processes and introducing a service management philosophy across the organisation.

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FOCUSING ENERGIES AND RESOURCES

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INITIATIVES AND ACHIEVEMENTS In the area of applications development, energies have been focused on critical business areas within Government, such as VAT, Inland Revenue and Customs, Health and Social Security, the Common Database, Vehicle Registration Application (VERA) and Local Government. MITTS Ltd is aiming at concentrating its key resources on its strategic business portfolio and contracting out other resourceconsuming projects under its own project management.

The Company has been instrumental in the devolution of systems from Government Departments to Local Councils to render government services more accessible to the public.

Last year, development was carried out on the Local Councils Field Services System. This will eventually enable the Local Councils Department to estimate the maintenance needs for each public garden and allocate the necessary funds to the respective Local Council. Using the latest web technology, through the Rent Devolution System, Local Councils are now able to collect rent on behalf of the Lands Department. A Customer Care System was also launched at the Trade Fair as a pilot project, where 750 complaints were registered. These were followed up by the Local Councils, which were connected through the MAGNET to the various corporations, allowing for any complaints to be automatically passed on to the relevant entities and providing a more efficient service to the public.

Among the initiatives in the field of Local Councils is the Licence Agency System (LAS), which, when fully developed, is specifically designed to cater for the management of licences from each authority and department through Local Councils.

On the health front, software applications included the implementation of the Cardiac Investigation and Patient Records. The aim of this system is to create an electronic record of patients admitted in any of the cardiology clinics at the hospital. With regard to the Patient Administration System (PAS), the Implementation of the File Tracking module enables users to track the location of a patient’s

medical file electronically, while the Outpatients System Implementation provides users with the facility to book patient appointments and record patient attendance registrations electronically. During 2000, the system was implemented in 60 outpatient clinics, St Luke's Hospital, and at the Health Centres of Qormi, Gzira and Rabat.

The Accident and Emergency Specifications for the computerisation of the Accident and Emergency Department, as well as the Patient Billing System Specifications were also completed last year. The latter allows for non-Maltese nationals, making use of government health services, to be billed through the PAS. A Drug Control System, used to automate the distribution of the drug control cards to control drug output, has also been added to the list of implemented systems within the Health Division.

As regards revenue collection and, more specifically, Social Security Contributions, MITTS Ltd has developed new software modules for the enforcement by the Inland Revenue Department of Social Security Class 2 Contributions. The Provisional Tax System was also upgraded to incorporate Social Security amounts due by payers for each current year.

On behalf of the VAT Department, MITTS Ltd worked at enhancing the VAT core system, implementing no less than six new applications. Two studies, aimed at providing enhanced information to the client, were also carried out.

The Law Courts computerisation process continued with the introduction of the new Magistrate Criminal Case Management System. Utilising the latest technology and interfaces with the Common Database and e-mail, the following applications were developed: The Police Report Application; the Magisterial Inquiry Application; the Primary Investigation Application; and the Magistrates Duty Roster Application.

Two additional applications were developed as an integral part of the core system to provide facilities to enter and

control verbal transcriptions and to track, control and provide judgements information. Another pilot project was launched at the Gozo Law Courts, involving the development and implementation of a Fines Collection System and the entry of ‘sommarji’ cases.

The Department Accounting System (DAS) was implemented in over 40 Departments and Ministries in over 100 sites, allowing, for the first time, all Government Departments and Ministries, located in over 200 sites, to conduct electronic inter-departmental financial transactions and enhanced financial monitoring. Other salient deliverables during the past year included DAS training, to around 50 auditors from the National Audit Office.

The DAS version 3.0 was developed and implemented as a first phase of the EU/IMF compliance requirements.

The new version consisted of a complete restructuring of the databases and the introduction of new concepts in project reporting, as well as the chart of accounts, which includes a complete change in the set-up of Government Departments, and which caters for over 1,300 live DAS users. The Injury Benefits System, the Unemployment Assistance Payments, the Correspondence System and the Medical Assistance Auto Assessments were last year successfully implemented by MITTS Ltd at the Ministry for Social Policy. Three of the systems automate the capture of benefit application forms and the automatic assessment of the claim, generating rates of payment and calculating the arrears, or over-payments due on the benefits. They also integrate with the existing benefits on the core

‘Sistema ghall-Amministrazzjoni ta' Beneficcji Socjali’ (SABS) to further enhance accuracy of benefit entitlements.

Among the initiatives of ITCS Department in 2000, the Information Resource Management Unit (IRMU) on behalf of the Department for Civil Registration continued with the management and implementation of the Common Database initiative - the Government's major information sharing platform. By the end of 2000, 54 Government Departments, with 820 users, were accessing the Common Database. Through the initiative, all systems critical to Government are provided with commonly used data to achieve consistency and improve data quality. Another related activity was the continuing of the implementation of the one-stop-shop concept through the elimination of event certificates from Government Departments.

In keeping with Government’s priorities related to accession to the European Union, MITTS Ltd is providing assistance and support to Departments and Ministries that require the intervention of IT to comply with EU directives.

Currently, consultancy projects are underway in the Customs Department, and systems development and international connectivity projects in the VAT Department.

Furthermore, activities are being undertaken to bring statistics and accounting in line with EU accession requirements.

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QUALITY AND INVESTMENT

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MILESTONES OF 2000 STRATEGIC CLIENTS MITTS Ltd is a technology-oriented organisation, providing high-level technology services - the Malta Government Network (or MAGNET) the Internet and Electronic Mail (e-mail) among others - to the Government through a resilient and robust infrastructure. Compelled to ensure that its infrastructure is state-of-the-art, MITTS Ltd has embarked on a re-investment programme, with the first phase consisting of the over-hauling of the Internet and Remote Access infrastructure. Moreover, last October, the MITTS Ltd Board endorsed the investment in capital projects such as Storage Area Networking (SAN) technology, Enterprise Management Architecture (EMA). e-Government strategies in the advanced Information Societies have identified that the major catalyst for the attainment of e-commerce is the establishment of eProcurement for public contracts, tendering and procurement. MITTS Ltd as the IT service provider to Government has as a purchaser the critical mass to facilitate the attainment of Government’s goal to transform Malta into an Information Economy by championing eProcurement. In this regard, the MITTS Ltd Board commissioned in 2000 an internal business study to assess the introduction of e-Procurement for MITTS Ltd related procurement.

The e-Procurement system will render procurement more efficient and enhance relationships with MITTS Ltd clients and suppliers as it will lead to improvements in terms of prices, quality, delivery lead times and methodologies whilst improving transparency, traceability, accountability, and retaining ISO 9000 certification.

The Education Division within the Ministry of Education embarked on challenging project to provide Internet in all Government State Schools. The strategy adopted by the Education Division through its Information, Communications and Technology Centre (ICTC) was that it commissions MITTS Ltd to set up Internet connectivity in 50 schools by March 2001 to be connected to MAGNET by either ADSL or cable modem links. These connections will be inter-connecting approximately 1340 students' PCs and 100 schools administration PCs to the MAGNET. The main objective of the provision of Internet in schools is to broaden student’s communication and research capabilities. The project is also seen as a powerful medium to transform 180 schools across Malta and Gozo into access centres for e-Government related services.

Following the successful completion of IT infrastructure works in Primary State Schools (Years 1, 2, 3 and 4) the Education Department in 2000 commissioned MITTS Ltd to equip all Year 5 and 6 classrooms (9 to 11 years) with IT infrastructure.

For Year 5 and 6 a total of 400 classrooms, each consisting of 10 data outlets were installed thus, reaching a total of 4,000 network points. The Local Area Newtorks (LANs) implemented in these schools will allow future Wide Area Network (WAN) inter-connectivity within the Education portfolio. To date, the total number of networked classes in the primary education sector is 700, this being 65 per cent of the total number of classes available in this sector.

The Education Division, in its endeavour to provide maximised IT knowledge, embarked on the provision of around 700 computers, 200 laptops, 200 printers and other audio-visual equipment. These were distributed to all Year 5 classes during last year, whilst an additional 9 computer laboratories have been installed within the secondary education sector. Each lab has been equipped

15 with 16 PCs, printing facilities, networking and a Visual Display Unit for teaching purposes. IT is now being used as an effective tool for the teaching of computer studies, social studies and mathematics. It is envisaged that the same amount of hardware will be rolled out during 2001 for the Year 6 Primary State Schools.

CONNECTING AND COMMUNICATING

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THE MAGNET In 2000, MITTS Ltd embarked on several projects to upgrade the MAGNET, considering a host of new technologies and means to improve it and render it more cost-effective, simpler to manage and efficient in terms of performance.

The GovNet 2000 project, involving the re-design and implementation of the Internet infrastructure, was launched

in June by the Board in order to ensure that the Government has at its service a highly available, responsive and quality electronic communication and transaction medium which, is completely self-sufficient and independent in connecting to upstream Internet Service Providers.

The investment for this initiative was directed towards

introducing new Internet networking infrastructure, the installation of new security equipment and the increasing of bandwidth from 386k to a 3MB by 2001 and a further 3MB by early 2002. The importance of this investment is also accentuated by the fact that Internet is designated by the e-Government strategy as the primary delivery channel to access government services over the next three years.

Through ITCS Department, a new solution for remote access services to the MAGNET was designed. In September 2000, the Board, aware of the limitations of the existing remote access infrastructure, endorsed an investment to introduce new remote access technology, directed to facilitate access for government users by increasing the ratio of modem connectivity per user.

In October 2000, the Board activated an end-to-end technology audit of the MAGNET. The audit is directed to look at the physical network infrastructure, at software applications, and the provision of service to MITTS Ltd clients and end-users. The audit is a second independent external review carried out by MITTS Ltd following a similar audit conducted six years ago.

The audit of the network and of the software applications will solicit end-user input and internal input within MITTS Ltd, and will cover design issues of be-spoke MITTS Ltd applications. MITTS Ltd also worked on the design of an Enterprise Management Architecture (EMA) to manage the MAGNET more efficiently and effectively.

TAKING PUBLIC SERVICE TECHNOLOGY INTO ANOTHER ERA

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e-Government - the provision of services and access to information on a citizen-centric basis - is considered as a critical component in Government’s public service change programme. In terms of technology, e-Government provides MITTS Ltd with the opportunity to embrace an exciting new era in the ICT age.

In this regard, MITTS Ltd is being mobilised to assist and support CIMU at the Office of the Prime Minister in the attainment of e-Government. MITTS Ltd is assisting CIMU in the evaluation of the e-Government Strategic Partner and is providing research, consultancy and implementation services to CIMU in matters relating to interoperability standards, metadata frameworks, portal architecture, pilot implementation of dynamic information and transactional services, within a service cluster framework delivery service channels.

MITTS LTD ANNUAL REPORT 2000

e-GOVERNMENT

KEEPING AHEAD...

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FUTURE CHALLENGES The ICT environment is evolving at an exciting pace. It is imperative for MITTS Ltd to maintain a hold on emerging technologies and to understand their potential impact on the existing ICT infrastructure.

During 2000, a number of initiatives were unleashed, and are expected to materialise in 2001 and beyond. Stepping into 2001 is, indeed, stepping into a new era, which is marshalled by the e-Government programme as well as other challenges such as the Government’s drive for EU membership (with the corresponding resultant changes) and the impact of the new cyber legislation framework.

What is, perhaps, equally challenging is that clients are today far more IT and IM literate than they were ever before, with higher demands and higher expectations.

MITTS Ltd now and in the future, must forcefully and confidently demonstrate to its clients why it should continue to be their preferred ICT supplier: a provider of excellent value for money in delivering quality services over a sustainable ICT infrastructure.

MALTA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING SERVICES LIMITED

MITTS

Gattard House National Road, Blata l-Bajda HMR02, Malta Tel: (356) 21 234710 Fax: (356) 21 234701 E-mail: mitts@mitts.net Website: http://www.mitts.net