Press Release
Issued by the Malta Council for Science and Technology
26th October 2020
DataDear: Another project supported by MCST – a cloud-based solution for finance and business professionals.
Finance and business professionals transitioning their business to cloud have much to benefit from DataDear – a project which received €161,000 in funds granted by FUSION the national funding programme administered by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST). The technology was developed by the DataDear Consortium represented by Scope Solutions and the University of Malta.
A dissemination event entitled DataDear: Empowering Finance Professionals was held last Friday the 23rd October at the Planetarium Building at Esplora Interactive Science Centre, Kalkara. The event was attended by industry professionals who could follow the results of the technology and participated in an interactive panel discussion composed of Dana Farrugia, CEO Tech MT, Steve Ginell Partner PWC, Andrew Naudi Partner Nouv, Beppe Muscat NM group and Brian Ferris Partner Scope.
Over the past decade, the business world has experienced a noticeable shift from traditional software to software being offered as a cloud-based solution, the latter also referred to as SaaS (software as a service). This shift has been further accentuated by the current COVID-19 dynamic, which has naturally accelerated this process for some companies. Scope has identified this overall shift during early days and during 2013 has set up shop to provide advice, together with implementation & support services for any business wanting to adopt a cloud-based solution. Scope has also recognised the influential position played by key stakeholders in the cloud adoption process, which includes accountants in business and in practice. To this effect, Scope has been focusing on empowering finance & business professionals, through embracing technology in order to drive the business forward.
During his presentation entitled: Empowering Finance Professionals, Brian Ferris, Scope partner said that “through Scope’s active work in the cloud solutions space, particularly with finance professionals, an opportunity was identified a few years ago, which was later brought to life through DataDear, a synergistic and integrated SaaS product. DataDear has now embarked on its own journey, currently servicing thousands of finance & business professionals throughout the entire globe, once again emphasising Malta’s presence as a strategic player in the fintech industry.”
SMEs have been working in their siloed setups using traditional software and legacy processes. In today’s world, these on-premise setups are being replaced by cloud-based software. For startups, cloud adoption is relatively straightforward, yet for established entities this transition can be more cumbersome. A number of researchers have established that one of the reasons SMEs delay shifting their organisation to the SaaS model, is due to the “deep existing business processes that are embedded in the day-to-day running of the operations, especially when it comes to recording data for analysis and reporting”. Research also shows that spreadsheet software is one of the most-used technologies for collecting, computing, and displaying data. Accountants and business owners are familiar with spreadsheet software. In spite of the risks associated with operating such a versatile tool, undoubtedly there are also various benefits of operating this tool, when approached diligently.
Dr Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Executive Chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology, stated that: “The synergies and dynamics which define the DataDear consortium are noteworthy. The momentum generated by this level of ambition is pivotal to the mechanism behind the national Research and Innovation Programme – FUSION. Year after year, we take great pride in observing the steady rise in the number of applicants who avail themselves of the uptake of national funds to accomplish what to them may otherwise have – many a time – been an unattainable dream”.
In his address, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and Digital Economy the Hon. Clayton Bartolo highlighted that the objective of the DataDear project is to create a series of innovative tools which help SMEs transition their business to the cloud, without having to reinvent all their internal processes and reports, whilst retaining the ability to push data in the cloud from familiar software such as existing spreadsheets.
“This objective has been achieved by creating a two-way synchronised bridge between the data in the cloud and the local machine, facilitating this data exchange through a controlled environment. Welcome to DataDear,” remarked Parliamentary Secretary Clayton Bartolo.
Stqarrija għall-istampa
Maħruġa mill-Kunsill Malti għax-Xjenza u t-Teknoloġija
26 t’Ottubru, 2020
DataDear: Proġett ieħor megħjun mill-MCST – soluzzjoni cloud għas-settur finanzjarju.
Professjonisti fil-qasam tal-finanzi u n-negozju li għaddejjin minn transizzjoni għall-cloud, issa jistgħu jibbenifikaw minn DataDear – proġett li rċieva €161,000 f’fondi mogħtija permezz ta’ FUSION, il-programm nazzjonali tar-Riċerka u l-Innovazzjoni li huwa amministrat mill-Kunsill Malti għax-Xjenza u t-Teknoloġija (MCST). It-Teknoloġija ġiet żviluppata mill-konsorzju ta’ DataDear, irrappreżentati minn Scope Solutions u l-Università ta’ Malta.
L-attività msejħa DataDear: Empowering Finance Professionals ittellgħet nhar il-Ġimgħa t-23 t’Ottubru fil-binja tal-Planetarium ġewwa l-Esplora, iċ-Ċentru Interattiv għax-Xjenza, li jinsab il-Kalkara. Għal dan l-avveniment attendew diversi professjonisti mill-industrija tal-finanzi li setgħu jaraw kif taħdem din is-sistema fejn kellhom ukoll l-opportunità li jipparteċipaw f’diskussjoni interattiva li għaliha kien iffurmat panel kompost minn Dana Farrugia -CEO Tech MT, Steve Ginell – Partner PWC, Andrew Naudi – Partner Nouv, Beppe Muscat – NM group u Brian Ferris – Partner Scope.
Tul dawn l-aħħar għaxar snin id-dinja tax-xogħol esperjenzat qabża kbira mill-użu ta’ software tradizzjonali għal dak li huwa bbażat fuq il-cloud, li jirreferu għalih ukoll bħala SaaS (software as a service). Din il-bidla nħasset aktar bis-sitwazzjoni kurrenti tal-COVID-19, li naturalment għaġġlet il-proċess għal diversi kumpaniji. Scope identifikaw din il-bidla minn ħafna qabel, propju mill-2013 u bdew jagħtu pariri u għajnuna dwar kif għandek timplimenta soluzzjoni cloud. Scope raw kif diversi partijiet interessati kienu f’pożizzjoni li jistgħu jinfluwenzaw l-użu ta’-proċessi bbażati fuq il-cloud. Għaldaqstant, ħadmu sabiex isaħħu u jagħtu l-possibiltà lil dawk il-professjonisti mid-dinja finanzjarja u tan-negozju sabiex iħaddnu din-it-teknoloġija ħalli jmexxu l-intrapriżi tagħhom ’il quddiem.
Brian Ferris, wieħed mill-imsieħba ta’ Scope, qal li “permezz tal-ħidma ta’ Scope ma’ professjonisti partikolarment fil-qasam tal-finanzi għal soluzzjonijiet cloud, ftit tas-snin ilu nħolqot opportunità, li mbagħad ingħatat il-ħajja permezz ta’ DataDear, f’forma ta’ prodott SaaS li hu sinerġetiku u integrat. DataDear issa kiber, u bħalissa qed jagħti servizz lil eluf ta’ professjonisti fis-settur madwar id-dinja kollha. Dan enfasizza l-preżenza ta’ Malta bħala attur strateġiku fl-industrija fintech.”
L-intrapriżi żgħar u medji ilhom għal żmien twil jaħdmu għal rashom bi strutturi u proċessi tradizzjonali. Fid-dinja tal-lum, dawn l-istrutturi qed jiġu mbiddla b’software li juża l-cloud. Għal dawk il-kumpaniji li għadhom qed jibdew din it-transizzjoni tistà tkun relattivament faċli, iżda għal dawk l-entitajiet li ilhom stabbiliti għal żmien twil din il-bidla tista’ tkun ferm aktar diffiċli. Numru ta’ riċerkaturi stabilixxew li waħda mir-raġunijiet li dawn l-intrapriżi medji u żgħar idumu biex jaqilbu għall-mudell SaaS huwa minħabba li “l-proċessi tagħhom ikunu daħlu fil-fond tal-operat tagħhom ta’ kuljum, speċjalment meta qed nitkellmu fuq proċessar ta’ data għall-analizzar u rappurtaġġ.” Ir-riċerka turi wkoll li software li juża spreadsheet jista’ jkun wieħed mis-softwares l-aktar użati għall-ġbir u wiri ta’ data. Accountants u propjetarji ta’ intrapriżi huma familjari ħafna mas-software tal-ispreadsheet. Minkejja r-riskji li huma assoċjati mal-operat li ġġib magħha din l-għodda versatili ħafna, bla dubju ta’ xejn jeżistu wkoll benefiċċji meta mħaddma bil-għaqal.
Iċ-Ċermen Eżekuttiv tal-Kunsill Malti għax-Xjenza u t-Teknoloġija, Dott Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, awgura lill-konsorzju tal-proġett DataDear għal kisbiet notevoli tagħhom u faħħar is-sinerġija u dinamiżmu tal-parteċipanti. Fl-indirizz tiegħu irrefera wkoll għas-sapport finanzjarju li l-Kunsill qed jagħti sabiex ikompli jissaħħaħ is-settur tar-riċerka u l-innovazzjoni: “Il-momentum li ġie ġġenerat minn dan il-livell ta’ ambizzjoni huwa kruċjali għall-mekkaniżmu wara l-programm nazzjonali FUSION. Ninsabu kburin li, sena wara sena, in-numru ta’ applikanti li qed jibbenefikaw mill-fondi nazzjonali dejjem qed jiżdied. Bil-fondi li qed jingħataw, dawn l-applikanti qed jirnexxilhom iwettqu l-ideat tagħhom u jiksbu s-suċċess.”
Fl-indirizz tiegħu, is-Segretarju Parlamentari għas-Servizzi Finanzjarji u l-Ekonomija Diġitali l-Onorevoli Clayton Bartolo, enfasizza li l-objettiv tal-proġett DataDear huwa li joħloq sensiela ta’ għodod innovattivi li jgħinu l-intrapriżi żgħar u medji fit-transizzjoni tagħhom lejn il-cloud, mingħajr ma jkollhom jerġgħu joħolqu proċessi u rapporti ġodda. Dan ikunu jistgħu jagħmluh fl-istess waqt li jitrasferixxu d-data mis-software familjari tagħhom bħal spreadsheets għall-cloud.
“Dan il-għan intlaħaq permezz ta’ sistema sinkronizzata bejn data li tinsab fil-cloud u oħra li qed tintuża b’mod tradizzjonali. Din is-sistema se tiffaċilita trasferimenti ta’ data f’ambjent ikkontrollat. Dan kollu merħba għal DataDear,” qal is-Segretarju Parlamentari, Clayton Bartolo.
This article was last updated on: October 26, 2020