1. Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Computer Science & A.I. Dept. University of Malta Malta Malta Council for Science and Technology Ideal-ist International Conference IST in FP6 25 th /26 th Nov 2002, Warsaw, Poland

2. Quick Run Through Introductions Introductions What are the barriers for Malta? What are the barriers for Malta? What can we offer? What can we offer? What are we proposing? What are we proposing? Conclusion – looking ahead Conclusion – looking ahead Malta Workshop in Jan 2003 Malta Workshop in Jan 2003 Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello

3. Fact file: Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Area:320 sq. km Population:390,000 Language:Maltese & English Currency: Maltese Lira Capital City:Valletta Constitution: Democratic Republic

4. Compared to … Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Malta’s  size,  geographical position  and workforce (pop.) limit our chances for equal opportunity and collaboration when considering other NAS: Major: size x 2500 and pop x 150 Next: size x 60 and pop x 5 Turkey

5. Even though … Even though …  Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Malta is still considered to be one of the strongest candidate countries to be considered in the next EU enlargement … why??? Has reached and exceeded all EU recommendations Has a well-established infrastructure to support economic and commercial activities Well versed into Western civilisation and inline with European standards Very stabilised Democratic Republic over the years In-place IT networks for eCommerce and eTrade.

6. … and yet … and yet  Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Malta still performed very badly in FP5 especially in IST and struggles to prepare for FP6 … why???  It’s geographic position, size and population?  Industry’s attitude towards research?  Brain drain to major European countries?  Competition too hard – others well prepared?  Need the right contacts, partners, people?

7. We propose … Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Malta wants to actively participate in FP6 even via ideal-ist and so definitely: Open for collaborations Available to partnerships Ready to offer a myriad of ‘new economy’ services Willing to serve as a hub between EU and North Africa

8. We look ahead … Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello Concluding: We would be delighted to discuss any collaborations http://www.mcst.org.mt/Idealist/ We invite you to the Ideal-ist Int. Conference in Malta http://dataserver.mcst.org.mt/events/ We thank you for your attention mmont@cs.um.edu.mt from ideal-ist to real-ist

9. Ideal-ist Int. Conf. in Malta Challenges for ideal-ist in Malta Dr. M. Montebello 23 rd and 24 th January 2003 http://dataserver.mcst.org.mt/events/