More than 70 registries containing more than four million documents are to be centralised in one building, the head of the civil service announced on Thursday.

It is one of five infrastructural projects for the public service, under plans unveiled by principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar as part of a five-year strategy launched during Public Service Week.

The many registries, now situated in different places, may be leading to lack of consistency, with different processes being adopted in the various departments and authorities, Cutajar said.

The Central Registry aims at gathering within it the 70 existing registries

The lack of uniformity will end once a central registry gathers all the data in one place.

The public service chief said the centralisation will also provide easier access to data, and make it easier to manage and control it.

The process will also reduce the use of paper while making the system more efficient.

This more holistic approach would ensure continuity from the beginning of the processing of a document right until the end, even if the document ends up in the national archives, Cutajar said.

He gave details about these new ventures as he stood inside one of the buildings that will house two of the other new projects.

The unfinished building, in Corradino Industrial Estate, will hold a second branch of the Institute for the Public Services as well as another remote working space for government employees.

The training institute, currently located in Floriana, has grown so much in five years that the premises in Floriana are no longer large enough, Cutajar said.

The institute, which trains personnel specifically for the public service, will now have a branch in the Corradino building.

A new branch of the Institute for the Public Services will be set up in Kordin

The same building will also accommodate a remote working space managed by government entity servizz.gov, of which there are already several around Malta.

The allocated area in Corradino will similarly provide a 'plug and play' area for any government employee needing a remote working space. 

More remote working spaces will be available in the Cordin building

Another building in Floriana will be refurbished into a Digital Transformation Hub. This will be a laboratory of sorts within which all digital processes used in the public service will be tested before they are launched in the community.

This hub will be accessible to the public, who will be able to give their feedback on services. The area can also be used for workshops.

Cutajar said this new investment will continue to build on the already unprecedented investment made to give access to public services online.

Over 1,500 services are already available online, and these are about to increase.

The digital transformation hub will see the development of new online services

The fifth project is an extension of the existing Department of Information building in Valletta. The fourth floor of the building will give more space for the Employee Support Programme to operate it.

The larger premises and facilities will enable a better support structure for the numerous public service workers.

With so many working in the public sector, the need for a robust support system is always growing. This programme offers counselling and support services to nurses, police officers, teachers, and any other public official encountering difficulties in his personal life or at work.

The ESP will provide more support in bigger premises in Valletta

The public service head said these five new projects are testimony to the investment being made to raise the quality of the public service to one of excellence.

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