MaltaMedia.com

University students will be benefiting from state of the art ICT facilities through new investment and EU funding.

The University of Malta has been awarded €17.3 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for a three-year project entailing the construction and completion of a fully functional brand new state-of-the-art building for the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology ICT).

Employment realities indicate that ICT graduates are in strong demand. Students as early on as the second year of the existing B.Sc. IT (Hons) course at the University of Malta are already being engaged and promised posts in various ICT organisations.

The building shall allow the Faculty of ICT to offer high-quality day and evening degree courses at both under-graduate and post-graduate levels, as well as various diploma and training courses. The overall aim is to have an ICT Faculty building that shall contribute to the knowledge infrastructure and research capacity within the University.

University Rector Professor Juanito Camilleri welcomed the Parliamentary Secretary for Public Dialogue and Information Chris Said who visited the ICT Faculty Building site where construction works are ongoing.

“The growth of ICT has to be encouraged and we want to ensure that human resources are trained and prepared for employment requirements. This objective is clearly in line with prevailing Government policy aiming at a better quality of life, and recognising ICT as one of the most substantial economic enablers,” the Parliamentary Secretary said. Chris Said emphasised also the importance of collaboration between University and the industry as well as employers.

Chris Said stated that EU funding in the education sector has been pivotal for the new opportunities offered to students. Since the University of Malta started participating in EU funded projects, the students have benefited from 174 projects, with co-financing amounting to over €7m.

The Government’s commitment to such initiatives as SmartCity and SmartIsland have indicated the large number of graduates needed. Prof. Juanito Camilleri commented that local industry has steadily indicated the need for more ICT graduates; “The University’s output currently stands at about 40 to 50 graduates per year. Through the Faculty of ICT, the University of Malta intends to help narrow the ICT demand and supply gap.”

This project also offers the Faculty the means to garner interest in the field of ICT and foster the growth of a healthy ICT research community, thus providing the right environment for effective collaboration between the University of Malta and other academic and commercial organisations.

The large space available (over 7000m2) shall include lecture rooms, meeting rooms, as well as a large number of research labs, enough to accommodate the present and foreseeable ICT students for a substantial number of years. The building shall incorporate the most modern ecologically-friendly solutions for a green work environment.

The construction shall consist of four levels and the items being funded include: construction and structural works, including excavation and car park, electrical /mechanical services, finishes, furniture and equipment.

In total, the University of Malta has been awarded over €42m in ERDF and ESF funds to be utilised for fifteen projects ranging from research analysis and training for enhancing library services to a super computing laboratory.