Digitisation, digitalisation, digital transformation : the Maltese spatial encounter

Abstract

The transformation of society is a slow generational process buffeted by a rapid change occurrence that is governed by a push-pull digital factor. The latter has spurned change that pushed the PREFE (Politics, Religion, Economy, Family and Education) societal foundations to embrace Technology. No longer do these domains operate in isolation, each with its own set of rules, dogmas and regulations, having become unobtrusive as technology infiltrated each domain through access to information in an interconnected global network. However, the resultant data-information-knowledge pivots facts emanating from the access to such huge volumes of material may not have rendered facts as a basis on which to build one’s theories-assumptions=knowledge upon. This chapter’s scope is to aid in the understanding of the need to create baseline datasets, information systems that are related directly to verifiable data cycles upon which researchers can build theories, policies and enable decision-makers to base their work on sound ground.