MINISTRY


	Ministry

Science & Technology

MALTA COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(Kunsill Malti għax-Xjenza u t-Teknoloġija)

Organisation's activities:

The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) has since 1988 been mandated by the Government to act as the national focal point for science and technology policy. In this role, MCST has pioneered visionary approaches to the deployment of science and technology in the Maltese Islands. The MCST Board is composed of prominent members of the private and public sectors and academia and MCST's work has focused over the years on promoting increased networking between these sectors and the development of public-private sector partnerships. MCST is currently strengthening its organizational structure in order to harness national S&T resources more effectively. The MCST Board features a strong representation of the private sector and organizations representing the private sector. Among the MCST priority projects for 2002-2003 are the national R&D Audit and Technology Foresight Exercise and the setting up of the Innovation Relay Centre.

With Malta's full association to the Fifth Framework for Research and Technological Development in 2001, MCST is now also the national agency responsible for promoting and coordinating Malta's effective participation in FP5 (National Contact Point Organisation) and has appointed the National Contact Points for the seven programmes. MCST and the FP5 National Contact Point Organisation are placing primary emphasis on encouraging and facilitating the participation of SMEs and local industry in the Fifth Framework Programme. This emphasis is reflected in an FP5 INCO2 Project entitled SYNERGNET, which Malta has been coordinating since March 2001, which focuses on Awareness and Training activities oriented primarily at supporting the participation of SMEs in FP5.

List of Current Projects

Partner, FP5 IHP STRATA Project eFORESEE, Exchange of Foresight Relevant Experiences for Small European and Enlargement Countries (start date January 2002).

eFORESEE is a two-year EU funded project aimed at anticipating and responding to the needs of policy makers, involved in the formulation and implementation of foresight activities in EU15+ smaller economies and regions. It will define and highlight the strategic role of foresight in the accession process, and in the integration of accession states into a European Research Area. eFORESEE will address decision-making processes involved in setting up foresight activities, as well as the challenge of managing and implementing specific foresight actions. It will look at the Knowledge Management needs of foresight and explore the possibility of applying benchmarking techniques to improve the efficiency of foresight over time. The project will carry out six pilot foresight actions in three countries - Malta, Cyprus and Estonia. It will focus its effort in the following domains: Nanotechnology and material sciences, environmental sciences, biotechnologies in agriculture, aquaculture and medicine, as well as tourism and cultural heritage.

Partner, FP5 INCOMED Project entitled MIPS, Mediterranean Innovation Policy Support (December 2001).

MIPS directly addresses issues defined in the INCO work-programme such as" efficient and cost-effective RTD policies, institution building, regional & international cooperation, "as well as" methodologies for impact assessment and priority setting". Building on the work of MOCO over the last 5 years, in order to achieve synergy with a MEDA regional programming for "SMEs & Innovation", and incompliance with recommendations of a recent MOCO Task Force, MIPS will provide the basis for a "Regional Reference Group on Science, Technology and Innovation". A series of two highly structured work-shops will assemble policy makers, experts on RTD & Innovation, as well as industrialists to develop a manual far Science, Technology and Innovation Policy coordination at the regional level, and to provide recommendations to managers of relevant FP+MEDA actions to ensure the greatest impact of actions on the socio-economic development of the region.

The MIPS accompanying measure will:

-	Stimulate and structure discussions among EU and Mediterranean experts on issues related to the development of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy in the Euro-Mediterranean region;

-	Emphasise the potential for synergy among European Commission programmes such as FP5, FP6, INCO I and INCO II, as well as MEDA initiatives such as Eumedis and the anticipated regional initiative on "SMEs and Innovation";

-	Prepare the ground for an extension of the "European Research Area" to the Euro-Mediterranean region, as well as for the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean "Regional Reference Group on Science, Technology and Innovation" as recently recommended by an ad-hoc task force of the Monitoring Committee on Euro-Med collaboration in R&D.

Coordinator, FP5 INCO2 Project SYNERGNET, "Developing national synergies to enhance Malta's effective participation in the EU's Fifth Framework Programme"in contract negotiation phase.

In anticipation of Malta's full association to the FP5 in 2001, this proposal is aimed at developing necessary synergies for effective participation in FP5. The proposal's main emphasis is on strengthening the national set-up for disseminating information on FPS by establishing a sound and timely information network linking the National Contact Points to researchers and entities in the private and public sectors and academia.

The proposal focuses on three key thrusts:

(i)	information dissemination;

(ii)	the organisation of awareness and training events; and

(iii)	training visits to the Member State National Contact Point Organisations.

The proposal is primarily targeted at addressing the particular needs of SMEs, making up in Malta the bulk of the private sector and having little experience in participating in international programmes, thus requiring special guidance and Support in preparing for participation in FP5.

Input into the development of National R&D Statistics (2000-)

List of major relevant services/projects over the previous four years

i	Strategy and Management of Malta's participation in the EU's Fifth Framework Programme for RTD (1999)

i	Advice related to the screening of the Science and Research Chapter of the EU's Acquis (1999-2000)

i	Input into the "State of the Environment" Report (1998-)

i	The formulation of an Energy Policy for Malta (1998-)

i	EU MAST III Project "Mediterranean forecasting system pilot project" (1998-2001) MAS3980171

i	EU Avicenne MEDNET Project "Data Processing for a Mediterranean Automated Environmental Monitoring Network (1993-96) Project Ref: AVI*920015

i	Gender in Science and Technology - Report commissioned by the Commonwealth Science Council (1999)

i	"State of Science Education in Malta" - science education research project (1998-2000)

i	A National Strategy for Information Technology for Malta (1994) (an MCST-commissioned study resulting in a set of key publications)

i	Malta Science and Technology Policy Document (1994) approved by Cabinet in December 1994.

	Malta Council for Science & Technology Website

	Alphagalileo