thereby increasing productivity. it also means monitoring the project from end to end, right through to the industrialisation phases. finally, it means encouraging feedback on the difficulties encountered during a project, so that we can make collective progress on subsequent projects. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches b / this approach feeds into and forms part of an overall reflection on the evolution of it systems, focused on the question of data and its use. whether structured or unstructured, data is the key element in the acpr's analyses and controls, and it is growing exponentially. the suptech projects all aim to facilitate the management, access and visualisation of this data, to enable better targeted analyses and controls to support our risk - based supervision and to improve its effectiveness and efficiency. moreover, the suptech approach cannot afford to overlook the technical problems linked to the management, evolution or decommissioning of existing systems. the insertion of new tools into the existing environment cannot be improvised, but must instead be designed in a way that is consistent with developments in the information system as a whole. in addition, decommissioning old applications - which may be one of the objectives of deploying new tools - should also be integrated into the data enhancement strategy : in many cases, legacy applications contain a wealth of data, which should not be overlooked. ii. to be effective, this approach must also be carried out in a spirit of anticipation and openness. a / we must first anticipate the profound changes in our practices and organizations that some new technologies are likely to bring about. for example, generative ai offers exciting opportunities, particularly in terms of synthesising, extracting, and classifying information, or generating text or computer code. at the same time, it raises a large number of concerns, in terms of reliability, data confidentiality or intellectual property. to anticipate the effects of these new technologies, we need to go through the learning curve as quickly as possible, to get as complete a picture as possible of their potential benefits, but also of their risks. in particular, the experimentation approach can facilitate accelerated learning. for example, in may 2023, the banque de france, through the innovation platform operated by its lab, launched a call for contributions on the uses and impacts of generative ai on its activities. addressed to the innovative ecosystem, it aims, on the one hand, to refine our understanding of this technology and, on the

history of our continent. since malta joined the eu in 2004, and particularly since the maltese lira entered erm ii in 2005, the central bank of malta has been making the case for an early adoption of the euro. and for good reason. for a start, the economy was clearly well suited to participate in economic and monetary union ( emu ) : it has a long history as a market economy ; it is already closely integrated with the euro area through trade and finance ; it has close similarities with the euro area in the sectoral composition of output and employment as well as in terms of business cycle synchronisation ; it enjoys a relatively high level of development, with a per capita gdp close to the euro area average ; and its currency has a long history of stability. the euro, furthermore, offered the prospect of enhancing the economy ’ s potential to grow faster. the elimination of exchange rate risk and currency conversion costs should result in increased trade, while the low interest rate and inflation environment of the euro area should make for reduced business costs and greater macroeconomic stability. combined with the fiscal discipline associated with monetary union, this is expected to translate into higher credit ratings and improved investment prospects. from a central banker ’ s perspective, moreover, a key benefit of euro area membership will be the elimination of the risks inherent in managing a small, vulnerable currency and their replacement by the greater security afforded by the world ’ s second most important currency. finally, the object of our quest, that is participation in emu, was desirable for another reason. we were aware that we would thus become part of a framework that has been successful in fostering economic growth and employment creation. much of the credit for this belongs to the european central bank ( ecb ), whose steadfast commitment to price stability has created an environment conducive to investment, reflected in the fact that interest rates are low across the yield curve. the ecb ’ s credibility in fighting inflation is now so well established, moreover, that long - term inflation expectations are well anchored at around 2 %. price stability clearly yields important welfare benefits. so there are both advantages and opportunities for policy makers and economic agents in the euro area. but in setting out on this new phase of malta ’ s economic development, we must be aware that, while the ecb can, and indeed has, delivered low and stable inflation, it cannot use the interest rate to permanently increase growth. from malta ’ s perspective, therefore, the