WTDC Delegates on short visit to Gozo

Delegates from the World Telecommunication Development Conference, which was held in Malta during the past weeks, paid a short visit to Gozo. Parliamentary Secretary for Gozo, Dr Anton Refalo, welcomed the delegation at his Secretariat in Victoria.

Dr Refalo augured that the Conference would contribute towards a better understanding of the importance of telecommunications in the various sectors of societies. Dr Refalo said that modern means of telecommunications contribute in uncountable ways to ease the flow of information, which he described as a vital element in the ever changing global environment. "It is true that while in the past the owners of capital were considered as the world owners, nowadays those who own information are considered as so," said Dr Refalo.

The Parliamentary Secretary for Gozo said that the benefits of advanced means of telecommunications gain more significance in small island states which have to continually face challenges imposed by their geographic position and peripherality. Dr Refalo said that Gozo and Malta are a case in point. He referred to the recent introduction of telemedicine, between St Luke's Hospital and the Gozo General Hospital and between St Luke's Hospital and the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, as one example of the benefits of telecommunications which people are experiencing locally through enhanced medical services.