Earlier today during an event at the Ministry for Gozo, Minister for the Economy and Small Business Chris Cardona announced a new investment in Gozo being made by the J2 Group in partnership with Microsoft, who will be operating from the Gozo Innovation Hub.

Minister Chris Cardona said, “as part of the Government’s commitment, the Xewkija Industrial Estate has been revitalised and now provides attractive spaces for emerging knowledge companies.”

“The new Gozo Innovation Hub spread over 4,000 m2 at the former Malta Dairy Products site, will serve as another prestigious address for digital innovation,” he added.

“We believe that the partnerships we are officially announcing today, together with the laying down of the second fibre optic cable between Malta and Gozo, will entice more businesses to tap Gozo as a location for smart infrastructure, and smart solutions,” said Minister Cardona.

Minister for Education and Employment Evarist Bartolo emphasised on the importance of technological developments for today’s world as such developments are impacting present jobs.

“At the same time it is crucial to innovate Gozo’s economy without destroying its charm. Urban infrastructure and economic growth must be combined with a sustainable environment including trees, gardens and flowers,” he said.

Minister Bartolo also stressed that while preparing tomorrow’s workforce with the necessary digital skills, “it is of vital importance that we upskill our people who work within various sectors such as the automotive industry, and the household appliances industry among other jobs which need to develop their knowledge and skills to keep up with the digital developments taking place”

Minister for Gozo Dr Justyne Caruana said that, “Gozo is indeed the place where to do business smartly. Following Barts, Stewards and Noovle, which are premium partners with Google, we now have J2 and Microsoft.”

“We are putting Gozo on the international map to sustain economic growth and create more qualitative jobs,” she added.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed today between the Ministry for Gozo, Malta Enterprise, Malta Industrial Parks and MCAST, which they said, is to collaborate on various initiatives to facilitate innovative investment in Gozo and enhancement of education programmes in this sector.

Dr Caruana said that this MoU is “a strong statement that Gozo is now an active participant and has all the credentials as a centre for excellence, research and innovation.”

“As Ministry, we need to ensure that the workforce is ready to embrace change and the new opportunities that will arise and that is why the Ministry signed the MoU so that we achieve our ambitions,” she said.

“Lifelong learning is of utmost importance to address our skill gaps especially within the digital proficiency sphere,” said Minister Caruana. She stated that this Government’s vision is to turn Gozo into a “major contributor to the national economy and to create good quality jobs for the Gozitans to work in Gozo.”

The J2 Group together with Microsoft Corporation, will be entering into dimensions of artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, productivity and efficiency, and augmented reality among other innovations.

The Ministry explained that through research and development they will be conducting pilot projects in efficient ways to implement this technology and may give substantial contributions to many areas including health, tourism, traffic, supply-chain management and logistics.

Photograph: MGOZ/Terry Camilleri

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