The ICT industry in Malta has achieved substantial growth in the past decade. Excluding the iGaming sector, it now accounts for more than 5% of the nation’s GDP. Besides being a sector in its own right, ICT also helps other business sectors to develop and grow. It is the enabler of the smart specialisation areas identified in the National Research and Innovation Strategy 2020. The Digital Malta Strategy has been designed to foster a strong, competitive, ICT-enabled and export-oriented industry, able to compete globally. It will also propel ICT further in sustaining business and innovation, contributing to economic growth. Innovative application of ICT is also a crucial catalyst in the transformation of government. Sophisticated ICT implementations carry little value if citizens and businesses are not able to use public services or participate in the policy making process in meaningful ways. This strategy advocates the re-engineering of public services to achieve greater responsiveness to citizen and business needs, using multiple channels. Government will have an open approach to communicating and sharing information following the principles of transparency, participation and collaboration. Technology is continually advancing so this strategic plan will not, in the conventional jargon of management, be limited only to rational policy interventions. The Digital Malta Strategy is pragmatic, and flexible enough to react to future developments. There is high-level strategic direction that allows entities flexibility in implementation. Digital Malta is not just a Strategy to provide national policy direction on ICT initiatives covering 2014-2020. It also constitutes a framework, permitting policy makers, business leaders and entrepreneurs to take decisions now knowing they will be supported by policy that is responsive to the technological advances of the coming years. The Digital Malta vision is ambitious. The path towards achieving it will no doubt need refinement and, sometimes major updating, because today’s assumptions will carry diminished significance as events unravel and competitive advantages shift. These refinements will be reflected in the Programme of Initiatives complementing the Digital Malta Strategy. Each year a recalibration of the Initiatives will take place after measuring outcomes and targets achieved. This document is the result of an extensive consultative process. The first phase covered a series of consultation workshops with ICT stakeholders from the public and private sectors, associations and other interest groups from civil society, as well as the public at large. The second phase included more focused discussions with stakeholders involved in the eventual implementation and ownership of parts of the Strategy. This consultative approach will continue during the life-time of the Strategy. Digital Malta reflects the collective aspirations and goodwill of stakeholders, structured in the form of a national plan owned by the stakeholders themselves. It is a journey that all stakeholders will nurture to attain a vision of where Malta wants to be. National Digital Strategy 2014 – 2020 9