Minister for Justice and Construction Sector Reform Jonathan Attard addressed an annual conference organised by the Directorate for Information and Data Protection within the Ministry, on the occasion of European Data Protection Day, where the way in which society can embrace technological innovation while safeguarding the privacy and fundamental rights of citizens was discussed.
Minister Attard began by stressing the values we choose to embrace as a society as fundamental in the process of building a strong and sustainable future. “These values strengthen trust between citizens and institutions, and guide decisions that affect everyone’s daily lives,” said Dr Attard.
For this year, the central theme deals with ‘Achieving the Balance’, an essential balance between innovation and protection, between efficiency and responsibility, and between what is technologically possible and what is ethically acceptable.
The Minister emphasized how technology is today present in every aspect of life, with the increasing use of automated systems, artificial intelligence and the analysis of large amounts of data.
In his address, Minister Attard stressed that data protection goes far beyond a matter of laws and regulatory compliance, but is a reflection of the values that society chooses to embrace and the level of trust between citizens and institutions, and that the Government remains committed to continuing to strengthen these principles.
“We need to work together, institutions, the public and private sectors, and between all professionals who work in this field,” said Minister Attard, while reiterating the importance of pulling together if we want to remain among the leaders in this field as well.
The Minister acknowledged the crucial role of all professionals involved in the field of data protection, while maintaining that this is a shared responsibility that requires continuous collaboration between institutions, the public and private sectors.
This conference was also addressed by the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Justice and Construction Sector Reform Johan Galea, the official from the European Commission Dr David Ciliberti, Davida Flores from the Directorate for Data Protection and Coordination and Information, Dr Clayton Silvio DPO of the Police Force, Annabel Said from the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation and the Commissioner for Information and Data Protection Ian Deguara.
Photo: MJR/DOI
