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The Malta Independent | Thursday 24 September 2015
A new IT National Export System (NES) introduced at the Customs Department The Customs Department invested in an innovative and modern IT system to facilitate the movement of goods leaving the customs territory The Customs Department has from this week introduced their new state-of-the-art IT system, baptised as ‘National Export System’, or simply NES. The system is aimed for the clearance of goods for export. This has been possible thanks to close collaboration with the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA). NES is part of a much wider reform within the Customs Department after many efforts were made in the past years to revamp both its import and export IT systems. The main objectives were to be compliant with the
new Union Customs Code (UCC) and to improve user experience for both Customs administration, and businesses. Export was tackled first because the business processes are less complex than Import so more resources could be focused on building the technical foundations of the new system. These foundations will be reused to develop the Import system as well as future Customs IT systems. The system was fully designed and developed By MITA making use of the outsourcing framework. Prior to its launch, at least one year was spent testing the system.
Stakeholders, and business representatives were crucial in the process. During several training sessions that were held, around 140 business representatives were also given the opportunity to test the system and provide their feedback. Hands-on and tailor-made training was delivered to Customs clearing agents (‘burdnara’) and Customs officers. The overall feedback was positive.The deployment of the NES should contribute to facilitate trade between all stakeholders involved in the export process. The new system is in line with
Customs MASP 2020 intitiatives to modernise Customs processes and enable an electronic and paper-free working environment. The new system is built to be user friendly, user centric and runs on many platforms, including mobile devices. This means that users can use the system even when they are not at their office. The system is fully usable on tablets or other portable devices without any loss of functionality. This system equips stakeholders with all they need to carry out Customs business, in the simplest way possible. Today, after many years, the Customs Department can boast of having an IT system based on the latest technology and capable of meeting the requirements and expectations of stakeholders. What does the National Export System (NES) consist of? The National Export System (NES) is a web based system intended to be used by authorised users, on their preferred device.
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Benefits for Business Operators The new system includes practical features such as the possibility to attach supporting documents electronically to the declaration, automatic generation of the Movement Reference Number (MRN), help tips and online links, and advanced search facility. This project does not stop here. The new Import system is currently under development and is planned to be launched late 2016.
The elderly and digital media – a step closer A pilot project was conducted among elderly citizens was conducted to anlayse the best teaching ways of digital skills Even if the number of elderly individuals becoming tech savvy is on the increase, it is not enough. The amount of aging citizens with lack of digital skills is one not to be left unnoticed. One of the roles of the Malta Information Technology (MITA) is, that to help gaining more knowledge in the use of digital media amongst citizens which are 65+. To this effect, yesterday, MITA in collaboration with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing, and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth celebrated the closure of a pilot project aimed at empowering older citizens with basic Digital Skills. In a small celebratory event, a group of senior citizens were awarded Certificates of Participation to mark their successful journey in exploring the basic use of digital media and applications. The pilot project was possible thanks to the strict collaboration with three trainers, all ex MITA employees, and the participation of 30 older citizens. Training was given in three different localities, Luqa, Rabat and Marsaskala. Each student recieved a total of 20hours course in basic digital skills. During his address to the course
participants, Emanuel Darmanin, Head of the Strategy and Business Department at MITA, explained that this pilot’s inception was based on the results of research that MITA conducted jointly with the University of Malta on the older generation’s participation in the digital economy. The National Strategic Policy for Active Ageing was also an important contributor to the development of the project. The reality is that individuals who are typically over 65+ years might feel less confident with devices, applications and today’s digital lingo and feel cut-off from these social and societal developments. There is a digital divide and Government and stakeholders have to work together in a co-ordinated fashion to address it. Through the pilot project MITA supported a number of peer learning communities managed by senior citizens who are digitally-savvy. Through these communities, the groups of senior citizens explored the practical and relevant use of technology to pursue their interest, such as
communicating with loved ones, contributing on social media, shopping and banking online, and searching for resources on topics of interest. The informality and flexibility of the groups, the camaraderie between peers and the approach to learning were key to the success of the pilot. Research findings showed that this particular age group tend to shy away from technology, believing that they are not intelligent or good enough to master this phenomenon of digital era we live in. Results showed that building and working on these new digital skills increased confidence within them Mr Darmanin said that “MITA felt it was important to embark on a pilot project of this nature in order to contribute towards the bridging of this digital divide by empowering this age group with basic digital skills and further encourage them to explore the use of technology in their daily lives. We aim at supporting older citizens to increase their confidence in the use of today’s technology, and actively participate in a soci-
ety driven by technological advancements.” He also went on to say that “Following the encouraging feedback that MITA received, and in particular the extremely positive comments received by the course participants, we confirmed that small informal peer learning communities are ideal for these training purposes. Together with other key partners MITA will now evaluate the results of this pilot, and work towards potentially extending this course to further groups within Malta and Gozo.” During her address, Hon Justyne Caruana, Parliamentary Secretary for Persons with Disability and Active Aging said that Government’s vision is to strengthen Government services for the elderly within their community. Her Secretariat, in collaboration with the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), introduced courses related to information technology in the day centres targeting the elderly, which forms part of the lifelong learning programme
MITA Communications and PR Team
The Malta Independent ICT Feature his week’s edition features the new system introduced at the Customs Department, called ‘National Export System’. This innovative system was fully and developed By MITA making use of the outsourcing framework. Students attending a training
As outlined by MITA’s Customs team, the IT system offers a long list of benefits for both the administration within Customs and for their clients.
across Malta and Gozo. Hon Caruana praised the initiative and said that this shall help to eliminate the digital divide, and it is offers a possibility to the elderly to keep learning tools which will help them all along. She concluded saying that this project is also important in the context of the implied strategy for active aging implemented by Government. The Hon Dr Jose Herrera, Parliamentary Secretary for Competiveness and Economic Growth, closed the event and said that “It is important to encourage senior citizens to participate, discuss, and impart their experiences and knowledge. Digital media can be a means to achieve this. We have to support our wiser generation to feel comfortable with the new tools for doing so.” He also stated “The positive results achieved during this pilot are very promising. It certainly seems like we have found the correct equation to encourage our older citizens to explore and become active part the digital era we are living in”.
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 24 September 2015
programme organized by DiploFoundation visited MITA’s Data Centre as part of their studies. The students came from different countries, including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and they were all government officials holding senior/middle management positions related to ICT in their respective countries.
Yesterday elderly citizens were given an award certificate for participating in a pilot-project to gain more knowledge in the use of basic skills in digital media. 30 students participated in this project in three different localities, Marsaskala, Ħal Luqa, and Rabat.
All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature
Commonwealth professionals attend workshop at MITA Data Centre MITA hosted a study visit on the request of DiploFoundation, which was responsible of organising a Malta-Commonwealth Third Country Training Programme “Legal Instrument for the Internet Economy.” The foundation, set up by the Governments of Malta and Switzerland, works to increase the power of small and developing states to influence their own futures and development. It also seeks to increase international accountability and inclusivity as well as increase legitimacy of international policy making. DiploFoundation has been active in capacity building initiatives related to Internet governance and digital policy for many years. Through its many initiatives, Diplo acts on all levels, from local to global, and works together with many other stakeholders to ensure long-lasting capacity improvement in the sector. This September Diplo presented the 9th edition of the intensive pan-Commonwealth workshop, on Legal Instruments for the Internet Economy, on behalf of the Government of Malta and in association with the Commonwealth Secretariat. When welcomed to Malta by Mr Antony Ming, ICT Adviser at the Public Sector Governance Unit within the Commonwealth
Students showed particular interest in Malta’s vision within ICT and the projects which are being delivered on a national level to increase literacy in technology. They showed their ap-
Secretariat, Mr Ming praised Malta’s efforts in becoming a leader in ICT. He said that Malta has many success stories in ICT, placing it in a good position to share its experiences with other countries. In his view, among the best examples are MITA’s stateof-the-art Data Centre. The workshops at MITA’s Data Centre included presentations about MITA’s background, its mandate and objectives and an overview of the Agency’s role in Digital Malta – the National ICT Strategy. They were also informed about a number of proj-
ects currently being undertaken by MITA, including those related to the eID and the new ID card system. The students came from different countries, including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and they were all government officials holding senior/middle management positions related to ICT in their respective countries. Following the presentations by MITA’s management, the students toured the Service Call Centre, Control Centre and the Computer Room.
preciation at the design of the MITA Data Centre which holds, amongst other awards, a Tier III certification as both a constructed facility and also for design.