ISSUE 2

Welcome From The Prime Minister of Malta, the Hon. Dr. Edward Fenech Adami

I was pleased, in 1995, to accept the Commonwealth Secretariat's proposal for Malta to host a new foundation dedicated to the promotion of IT for Development.

I felt then that, besides being indicative of Malta’s credentials in the endorsement of information technology for national development and as a tool in Public Service Reform, the proposed initiative would be a good example of the contribution that smaller countries can make towards international development. I was also particularly pleased that the context was Commonwealth development, since Malta has consistently been, and remains, committed to participating in and supporting Commonwealth initiatives.

From a humble beginning in 1996 COMNET-IT has slowly but surely been raising its profile as the Commonwealth forum for good practice in IT application. It has organised and supported training and policy events in a number of countries. It has developed and hosted internet web-sites for Commonwealth agencies and launched various publications. It is currently developing Tanzania’s national web-site, executing a UNESCO project involving global experiences in on-line governance and promoting, with other Commonwealth partners, good practice in national strategies for Information and Communication Technologies.

COMNET-IT's role in these areas remains that of a catalyst and a broker, identifying and promoting synergies between Commonwealth and other agencies and facilitating projects and capability-building. The launch of COMNET-IT’s dedicated newsletter marked a milestone in the institutionalisation of the foundation as well as in the road to the development of mechanisms for a Commonwealth forum on Information Technology.