Ensuring that Malta remains a leader in the pack when it comes to the Digital Economy takes more than just developing attractive corporate and tax related incentives or establishing the right structures to produce sufficient human capital that investors opting for Malta would require. Legal certainty, through proactive and forward looking regulation is essential. This should not simply come as a reaction reflex and being efficiently rapid in the transposition of rules emanating from Brussels. The State should strive to promulgate and promote endemic legislation which truly reflects our national aspirations and highlights the advantages that Malta can indeed offer as an ICT centre of excellence.
Being competitive in the constantly changing ICT environment also depends on a country’s legislative edge and maintaining your regulatory regime open to innovation and at the same time pragmatic and devoid of excessive bureaucratic burdens.
The incredible progress that Malta registered in the field of ICT policy during the past decade enabled us to be recognised at an international level in various fora and served as the backdrop for the increasing forward direct investment achieved in relation to ICT. The ever-increasing number of remote gaming companies, technology driven financial services companies as well as other operators directly involved in information technology services is a proud testament to this.
This sound success was not only achieved through strategic and forward looking government policy but also through the introduction of legal regimes which mirror our national realities and aspirations.
Throughout the past years, Malta has established itself as a true example of proactive and innovative ICT legislation but much more needs to be achieved in order to guarantee further growth of the industry.
One of the first purely local interventions in our regulatory frameworks mirroring this legislative pro-activeness was the introduction of obligations of providers of international bandwidth to have arrangements in place with their competitors in order to bind them to accept to carry, on an interim basis, international traffic originating from their competitors should the letter develop a fault on their submarine cables. The high dependency that our tiny island has on international bandwidth, especially in the field of remote gaming and financial services as well as the faults that were being reported on such submarine cables as a direct result of the voluminous sea traffic passing between Malta and Sicily were the main instigators of this legislative intervention.
The introduction by the communications regulator of specific test and trial frequency licencing schemes aimed at alluring companies who wish to carry out further research and limited trials of new technologies has also borne fruit.
Malta was the first EU country to regulate remote gaming. This enabled us to quickly establish ourselves on the ICT map of this exciting and expanding niche industry. The influx of foreign companies and the establishment of foreign backed start-ups relating to gaming has been phenomenal and even though presently the market is going through a phase of consolidation where the big players are constantly taking control of smaller operators the gaming authority is still receiving interest for new licences and new business models. The availability of advantageous corporate structures and the increasing number of tax related incentives directly tailored to the creative industry has also made this possible.
The importance of regulatory and legislative intervention should never be underestimated. It is also through technology neutral and clear legal frameworks that foreign investors will obtain sufficient piece of mind that Malta is the place to be.
Malta must remain competitive and a step ahead. Serious consideration must be now given to the recognition of present technologies and how legislation can leverage accelerated economic growth and sustain FDI in information technology related industries and services.
The introduction of specific regulatory and authorisation schemes relating to cloud computing services should be on top of the agenda. Whilst the European Union has only recently started mulling on the various legal challenges that cloud computing presents, Malta has the golden opportunity to be an important actor and lead the way as it did in relation to remote gaming through the strategic introduction of legal models by which the protection of cloud users is recognised as well as setting the stage for the attraction of cloud computing services operators to Malta.
Furthermore, the introduction of legislation relating to skills gaming, an increasingly growing and lucrative industry should not be left on the back burner. In the field of ICT law, every day lost means that other jurisdictions will not only catch up with us more quickly but enable them to position themselves in a situation where their national packages are more attractive and resulting in having the largest multinational players in this field opting to set up shop elsewhere.
Needless to say, the State must be the primary driver for this realisation. One bold step in this direction was the publication of the Digital Rights White Paper late last year. Whilst the White Paper proposed the introduction of a number of digital civil rights in our own Constitution, such as the right to informational self-determination, infrastructure and information access rights to our citizens, it also catered for the recognition that the availability and ability of electronic communication networks to business enterprises established in Malta should be protected and promoted by the State. In fact, Article 20(A)(3) of the White Paper proposed that the State should recognise, promote and protect the ability of enterprises to access and use services and applications as well as share and impart information through information and communication technologies including electronic communications networks to realise their economic potential and shall take such appropriate measures to eliminate any unnecessary restrictions thereto that are unjustifiable in a democratic society.
But the enactment of these enterprise specific rights into our laws would be merely setting the agenda. Clear and specific subsidiary legislation would be required in order to reflect and transpose such principles into concrete negative and positive obligations on the State. I remain hopeful that the present administration will recognise and actively embrace the importance of the concepts presented in the White Paper and ensure that, irrespective of the change in government, Malta keeps focused on the charted course that will enable our country to be a true centre of excellence when it comes to ICT development.
Resting on the laurels of our past achievements is no option in the fast paced environment of the technological world we live in.
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