‘The elderly need to know how to use a computer’

A steering group has been set up to draft a strategy for Malta’s post-COVID economic recovery. Claudia Calleja spoke to its head on the need for computer literacy. 

The pandemic has highlighted the need for everyone, including the elderly, to be computer literate, the person in charge of the country’s post-COVID strategy, says.

“COVID emphasised more than ever before the need for computer literacy. The digital gap needs to be addressed,”Simone Borg says.

Borg, who is head of the department of environmental law at the University of Malta, chairs the steering group tasked with drafting the national strategy intended to lay out a path for Malta’s economic recovery.

“The next six months will be crucial. As the coronavirus vaccines are being rolled out we enter a stage that is less risky in terms of loss of life and health,” she says.

“It is time to take stock of where we are today and work on a vision for how our country is to face the period post-COVID.”

The strategy will look at the economic, social and environmental impact of COVID.

The three pillars are intertwined, Borg points out, which is why having a holistic strategy that looks at the bigger picture is key. Digitalisation offers a clear example of how things come together.

Digitalisation has been accelerated during the pandemic, with several businesses shifting online to survive and many people working from home.

The aim is to ensure that no one is left behind

But while working from home has brought many advantages, such as flexibility, less waste of time and reduced traffic, it also has its disadvantages, such as lack of social interaction, she says.

“It also created the need for a discussion about certain work-related issues like safety at work and the impact of online learning. Our working patterns have changed. We need to build on what we have.

“So, if we have discovered advantages, we can carry on. But we then need to assess what is necessary for people to work online. Do we have a robust digital system? Do people have the tools they need? What about digital literacy?”

This is one example of how the strategy will be addressing skills gaps as part of an important part of economic recovery. 

The process of drawing up the strategy is still in its early stages. Consultation will take place with different sectors to identify their main needs and priorities. A technical committee will carry out research.

Public consultation meetings will also be held before all the information is collated into the final strategy document that will include recommendations on the way forward.

Given the fast-moving pace of this unprecedented situation, Borg envisages that the strategy would then need to be reviewed and updated as the things evolve.

She says the pandemic has highlighted the need to diversify the economy from the high reliance on tourism, which was hit badly by the restrictions.

COVID also highlights the need for Malta, as an island state, to ensure certain securities, as in the case of food, and to have a robust health sector.

Research will be carried out to understand what skills and human resources are needed to keep it robust.

In terms of the environment, the steering group will look at how to accelerate the pace of decarbonisation, with its potential for green jobs and a ripple effect across people’s well-being and the economy, according to Borg, who is also a specialist in the conservation of marine natural resources. 

“This is a joining-the-dots exercise. We need to set the economy going again, learning from what happened in the past.

“Having a holistic, forward planning strategy, and not simply fire-fighting, is essential. The aim is to ensure that no one is left behind.”