eForesee in Malta

The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), is the Malta partner within the EU FP5 eForesee project. MCST considers participation in the eForesee project as an important part of its strategy to introduce and promote a national foresight culture, thereby introducing a more systematic, long-term and participative approach to policy-making in the area of research, technological development and innovation.

The eForesee project aims to develop a set of innovative and strategic policy recommendations in Malta on how to engineer sustainable public-private sector partnerships. The foresight methods and approaches through which these recommendations are developed are the main innovation tools of the project. Thus bringing about a change from traditional ways of formulating policy to new approaches.

The eForesee will create an open participative process of thinking, debating, consulting and networking on alternative futures. These processes will also provide the necessary tools for policy-makers in candidate countries in dealing with the structural changes to the economy that accompany the Accession Process.

A more ambitious aspect of this project is the launch of a high level dialogue with other national strategic players. The aim is to provide a sounding board for the development of common methodologies for national strategic planning and the embedding of a national foresight culture.

This initiative will inform and provide a vital input in the development of the National Development Plan and Malta's Research, Technological Development and Innovation (RTDI) Strategy. This foresight initiative is not designed merely as a one-off activity, but as evolving into iterative, embedded processes with long-term impact.

In Malta the eForesee Project will be carrying out Pilots in the following areas:

1. Knowledge Futures and ICT in Education
    
2. Towards enhancing the Marine sector's
   contribution to the Maltese Economy in 2020