The government’s ambitious plans to become a leading figure in artificial intelligence have taken a massive step forward, with the unveiling of the first details of the country’s AI policy.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Digital Economy Silvio Schembri explained how the government’s task force in the field identified three strategic pillars that must be pursued, namely field investment, start-ups and innovation, and its application to both the private and public sectors.

“Malta aspires to become a place in which local and foreign companies and entrepreneurs can develop, prototype, test and scale AI, and ultimately showcase the value from their innovations across an entire nation primed for adoption,” he said. “Our ambition is to create the conditions for AI to a springboard from Malta to the world.”

Schembri also added that the ultimate goal is to make Malta a centre of excellence and technological hub for the field while also stimulating local start-up activity.

Turning to the public sector, Schembri said that “[their] aim is to create an AI-powered government and to do so will assess a number of use cases for public sector applications”.

“These AI use cases will be clearly defined and then assessed against criteria that will consider operational, economic, financial, legal and regulatory aspects, with a view of identifying the projects that can generate the biggest local impact,” he continued.

Underlining these three pillars are three enablers which cut across all aspects of the National AI Strategy, which are education and workforce, a legal and ethical framework, and an ecosystem infrastructure.

“The measures are designed to equip, reskill and upskill workers in every sector of society and lay the foundations for Malta’s education system to evolve and adapt to the requirements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”

The document will be open for public consultation until 22 April, with the task force expected to meet with key stakeholders to get greater insight into the strategy.

A link to the document can be found here.

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Julian Bonnici

Julian is the former editor of Lovin Malta and has a particular interest in politics, the environment, social issues, and human interest stories.