Parallels, a global leader in cross-platform solutions, has announced at a virtual press conference its plans to enlarge its research and development (R&D) team in Malta by 50 per cent and enter into a significant collaboration with the University of Malta to invest in artificial intelligence (AI). The press conference was attended by Prof. Alfred J Vella, Rector and Prof. Ing. Carl James Debono, Dean Faculty of Information & Communication Technology of the University of Malta as well as Nathalie Farrugia, Chief Officer Corporate Relations of Malta Enterprise.

This year, Parallels is expanding the local research and development team in Malta by 50 per cent, in response to the continued success and the growing market for its leading remote working solution, Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS, parallels.com/ras). Parallels will hire experienced developers in Malta with expertise in areas of critical importance to its customers. Parallels RAS provides secure access to virtual desktops and applications to any device, anywhere, anytime. It was originally developed by 2X Software in Malta 16 years ago, before the company was acquired by Parallels in 2015.

"This year marks the 16th anniversary of Parallels RAS in Malta, and I'm excited to build on our strong history with today's announcement of new jobs and investments in this region," said Nick Dobrovolskiy, senior vice president of engineering and support at Parallels.

"Parallels RAS has been seeing growing demand as the world of work has changed and organisations have been increasingly investing in solutions that enable long-term remote- and hybrid-work environments around the world.”

The Parallels team also announced it is working on an AI project in collaboration with the Department of Artificial Intelligence within the faculty of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) of the University of Malta with support of the R&D (2014-2020) Malta Enterprise incentive.

Parallels has always been an innovator in the space and has been eager to deepen research into AI. The new programme will support research in machine learning and the practical application of AI to enhance the Parallels RAS user experience and provide IT teams with modernized tools to help businesses deliver better service in today’s always-connected world. New improvements will feature proactive problem detection and classification with advanced log-analytics and monitoring of data generated by Parallels RAS and its infrastructure.

Parallels has been working closely with the University of Malta as Gold Partner since 2016 providing students research opportunities to deepen their knowledge in modern technology.

“As a faculty, we give high importance to our relations with the industry, because we know these relationships offer students a richer experience on the whole, by giving them a preview of what they can expect once they start contributing through their career choices,” said Professor Ing. Carl J. Debono, Dean of The Faculty of ICT.

“Specialising in AI, we see on a daily basis how the relationship between people and technology is rapidly changing, and how solutions are being developed to automate and simplify tasks. And as researchers inthis field, we are directly impacting our collective future. In this case, we’re seeing how AI in Parallels RAS can be utilised to improve productivity and wellbeing in remote work. We look forward to partnering with Parallels and seeing the successes with AI in the days and years to come,” said Professor Matthew Montebello, Head of Department of AI.

“As the country’s economic development agency, Malta Enterprise facilitates the growth of existing operations through various assistance measures, not only at starting up, but also at scaling up, business development and research & development projects. Malta has been hosting a number of companies as well as startups whose activities are tech based like that of Corel Ltd. Malta proves to be an attractive base in this regard as Malta Enterprise continues to support this ecosystem,” said Nathalie Farrugia, Chief Officer Corporate Relations of Malta Enterprise.

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