About us

Building on Ideas

As an entity concerned with the need for significant social and technological change, we believe in the power of human and technology centered approaches to problem solving and innovation.

Over the last couple of years we have been following the amazing solutions that smart people and clever methods or tools can yield, and cannot help to think about how we can help effect change in Malta by building on these ideas. Consequently we are all the time on the lookout for ways of harnessing the passions and talents of our employees and partners in order to address tangible concerns for Malta. We strive to do what we do best while having a significant positive impact on our engagements and society in general.

Our learning journey has taken us a long way and has brought us in contact with countless inspiring people and organisations. We continue to explore new directions and find new ways to apply innovative thinking and provide technological solutions that have a social impact.

At PiM, we have built initiatives around solutions for both social and environmental impact. For us, such solutions also entail creating transformational change in the communities we are engaged in. We see corporate social responsibility as being an ideal catalyst for growth and innovation, an integral part of how we can use the power of clustering and the passion of our people and partners.

We are excited about our increasing involvement in this space and look forward to working with all of you as we bring sustainable solutions to bear on some of today’s concerns. Sharing knowledge effectively is the key to our success!

Regards,

Brian
Executive Director

Our Areas of Engagement

Projects in Motion Ltd. (PiM) is a multidisciplinary research organisation and cluster platform based in Malta. PiM operates primarily within the framework of trans-national co-operative research and regional development programmes financed by the European Union. We develop participative collaboration with counterpart organisations in Malta and elsewhere, while ensuring a maximum return on funds received and local ownership of the outcomes. We do this by providing the leadership and expertise that is currently lacking to stimulate Maltese participation in a variety of European funding programmes, actions and initiatives for transnational cooperation.
PiM does this by providing assistance and clustering structures, promoting transnational cooperation and networking; and by offering research services related to ICT, management, manufacturing, training and dissemination activities. Research, technologocial development and innovation (RTDI) are the cornerstones of our efforts here in Malta, and we are mostly active in the 7th Framework programme (FP7), the Intelligent Energy programme (IEE), Lifelong Learning programmes, EuroStars, 20 Million for Industry funds and the MCST RTDI funds.

Our Core Services

Our core services include:

• Maximising the benefits arising from EU Community initiatives and Programmes for manufacturing and service industries, local authorities, development agencies, community groups and all other relevant players in the Region.
• Participating or managing collaborative projects with distributed resources, which cover a broad range of innovative issues through transnational cooperation or directed towards capacity building for R&D and policy.
• Addressing the training needs of Maltese enterprises and presenting scientific advances and new technologies from researchers to enterprises. Organization of fairs, events, seminars, workshops: i.e. Thematic events
• Setting-up, management and animation of professional, technical or/and research networks at the cluster/regional level, the development of specific tools for networking and innovation support.
• Supporting services for firm internationalization and research of partners between enterprises and R&D centers, and dedication to technologies’ transfer from research to SMEs.
• Undertaking ex-ante monitoring and evaluation phases of National and transnational funding/operational programmes to improve the quality, efficiency and consistency of the strategy and their implementation.
• Providing structured dialogue and horizon scanning in key sectors.

Our experience in the Information Technology sector includes:

• eLearning management and web conferencing systems designed and developed for open and distance learning (ODL) courses tailored for local SMEs.
• Developing and deploying automated and innovative tourist guide systems.
• Providing innovative strategy and R&D planning for heritage and other organisations for the care of and access to their collections, identifying all the possibilities offered by actual and digital technology including policies, strategy and conservation planning, and developing access to collections through digitization.

Our experience in the sustainable energy sector includes:

• Increasing knowledge on sustainable development ;
• Develop awareness on intelligent energy use;
• Reduction of energy wastes;
• Undertaking research related to concentrated solar power
• Research on ‘Concentrated Solar Power' technology in novel applications like desalination and solar cooling;
• Application of heat pumps using sea water as a heat source.

Partnership through Clustering

Clusters can be defined as concentrations of competing, collaborating and interdependent companies and institutions which are connected by a system of market and non-market links. Our current strategy establishes proactive links between specialized firms that are both vertical (through buying and selling chains for example) and horizontal (through complementary products and services, the use of similar specialised inputs, technologies or institutions, and other linkages). These linkages involve established and reliable social relationships or networks that produce benefits for the firms involved, and that are in close physical proximity. The diagram below highlights the clustering framework we adopt when tackling the research challenges at hand.

Corporate Social Responsibility

PiM has been striving to consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of our activities on customers, suppliers, employees, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. PiM has been trying its best to push the concept of "Social Entrepreneurship‟ wherein organisations recognise a social problem and use entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change.

• Projects in Motion is the International Commons (iCommons) Project Lead for Malta. Creative Commons aims to build a layer of reasonable, flexible copyright in the face of increasingly restrictive default rules.
  http://creativecommons.org/worldwide/mt/
  
• Projects in Motion acted as the EDEAN National Contact Centre (NCC) for Malta. The European Design for All e-Accessibility Network (EDeAN) was established in 2002, in accordance with one of the specific goals of the eEurope 2002 Action Plan which is to raise the profile of Design for All and emphasize its importance in achieving greater e-Accessibility. The European Commission, via the Directorate General "Information Society", retains an active advisory role in helping EDeAN fulfil the eEurope Action Plan.
  http://www.edean.org
  
• Projects in Motion has recently completed a proposal under the European Social Fund umbrella for the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), a Maltese non-profit organisation. Founded in 1976, YMCA Malta as part of YMCA International Network seeks to promote and build a more just society. http://www.ymcahomeless.org
  
• Projects in Motion helped establish the Malta Regional Development and Dialogue Foundation(MRDDF), a registered non-governmental organisation in Malta focused on sustainable regional development and the promotion of social dialogue.
  http://www.mrddf.org
  
• Projects in Motion was a Board Member and fund-seeker for the Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit (FTZ), a Maltese non-profit foundation drawing key stakeholders together in a strategic partnership to boost regional development. Realizing that a highly-competitive economy can only be achieved if public, private and voluntary organisations join forces to attain the critical mass of resources needed, several local leading players have set up FTZ as an inclusive platform to undertake projects which build on the traditional strengths of Malta‟s workforce. http://www.ftz.org.mt