Digital Transformation in Ukraine: Before, During, and After the War
Credit: Vecteezy.com
The process of digital transformation in Ukraine started long ago before the Russian full-scale invasion. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine was created in 2019, headed by Mykhailo Fedorov, to implement the “state in smartphone” project which was announced by President Zelenskyy. The vision of the Ministry is to build the most convenient digital state in the world without bureaucracy, absolutely paperless, and without the need to visit government offices. The big idea is that the state should work quickly, conveniently, and with a few clicks like Uber, Booking, or Airbnb.
Many countries admired our digital transformation efforts and achievements. OECD wrote about the Ministry’s role in the digital economy's fast growth before the war and how the Ukrainian IT community has accelerated its efforts since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. IT World Canada admits that Ukraine has managed to implement an astonishingly comprehensive set of digital government services and a goal of digitising all government services by 2024 – despite the fighting for its very existence. In 2021, ITU studied digital skills development in Ukraine and now recommends our experience in digital education as the best practice as seen in their report. Wired called Ukraine a formidable war machine, and at the Davos Summit this year, we were called the “digital tiger”.
On February 24, 2022, Russia began the largest aggression since World War II. Even this could not slow down digital transformation in Ukraine. We did not stop the implementation of plans to build the “state in a smartphone.”
Ukraine’s digitalisation path
In 2019, our team established four strategic goals through 2024 for building a digital state:
100% of government services are online,
6 million Ukrainians participate in the digital skills development program,
IT represents 10% share of the country’s GDP,
95% of the transport infrastructure and settlements are covered with high-speed internet.
In order to digitise such a big country as Ukraine, a new organisational structure for the government was createdincluding establishing the new position of Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDTO) operating on the level of Deputy Minister or Deputy Governor. The CDTO operates both at national and regional levels. The Minister of Digital Transformation is also a Vice Prime Minister, and this position gives a possibility to coordinate all the processes ofdigitalisation in our country.
To achieve all of the four strategic goals, we launched the digital state brand Diia (which means “action” in English), housing an ecosystem of national digital projects:
the mobile application Diia with digital documents and is the most popular public service,
the state portal of public services Diia,
Diia.Digital Education project for the development of digital literacy,
the national project for the development of SME and export Diia.Business,
the unique legal and tax space for IT companies Diia.City.
Before the war: Ukraine was probably the N°1 country in the world regarding the pace and speed of digital transformation
In just three years since the establishment of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, we made a big leap in digitisation. Ukraine became the first country in the world where digital smartphone passports became full legal analogues of ordinary documents. Ukraine became the 4th country in Europe to have a digital driver's license. We have launched the world's fastest business registration, the digital signature on a smartphone, and many other unique services.
Our core product is Diia, one of the best government applications in the world. It is already used by almost 18.3 million Ukrainians, which is 50% of the country's population. Among the digital documents in the application are ID card and foreign passport, student card, driver's license, vehicle registration certificate, vehicle insurance policy, tax number, migrant certificate, and COVID certificate and the list of documents is constantly growing.
Last year, we taught almost 1.5 million Ukrainians with basic digital skills in the innovative format of an educational series, combining entertainment and education with the participation of experts and celebrities. We rely on certain European standards when developing educational series, for example, the European Framework of Digital Competences. In total, we have produced more than 90 educational series on digital literacy that every citizen can watch for free on the Diia.Digital Education platform.
We have taken the construction of the entrepreneur support ecosystem to a new level. We launched a one-stop-shop portal for entrepreneurs Diia.Business, where everyone can get free consultations and training on more than 70 topics (for example, legal, taxation, marketing, and HR), find financial support programs, and get inspired by successful cases. Moreover, before the war, we opened 11 Diia.Business support centres for entrepreneurs throughout Ukraine. These are modern and comfortable locations where small and medium-sized businesses can receive free consultations, attend business events, search for investors and partners, and test their products at a special pop-up location before entering the market.
A few weeks before the start of the war, we launched Diia.City, a legal and tax framework for IT companies. More than 380 companies received Diia.City resident status and this number continues to grow even during the war. Among them are well-known Ukrainian and international companies including Reface, Monobank, MacPaw, Ajax Systems, Revolut, EPAM Systems, Samsung, Genesis, Softserve, Sigma.Software, Rozetka, and Luxoft.
During the war: digital technology is deployed to help Ukrainians
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine continues to work in the same direction as before the full-scale war. However, due to the war, the Ministry has transformed. Earlier, we launched public services for peacetimes, such as social services or business registrations. Now we have launched more services related to the war:
helping the army in a few clicks,
a program of financial assistance to entrepreneurs and employees from the regions where hostilities took place,
assistance services for displaced people,
submitting an application for compensation for damaged property,
eVorog, a chatbot for informing the Armed Forces about the movement of enemy equipment, soldiers or collaborators,
TV and radio with access to a news marathon so that Ukrainians can get accurate information,
eDocument for identification for those people who left home without documents,
pension certificate (currently in beta testing).
In addition, we are finding new solutions for the operation of important facilities which use satellite internet technology. Ukraine is one of the countries with the largest number of Starlink terminals, with about 20,000 terminals. We received terminals from Elon Musk's SpaceX company, ministers of digital transformation from EU countries, and partners.
Starlink makes it possible to ensure the stable internet connection of critical infrastructure facilities including medical, energy, education, and business. In addition, Starlink terminals helped restore communication in Irpin, Bucha, Borodyanka, Chernihiv, and other settlements after the occupation.
Digital technologies allow the state to be in touch with Ukrainians who were forced to leave the country due to the war. We launched a virtual Diia.Business centre, as a pilot project, for Ukrainians abroad, where they can get help finding a job, opening their own business, or temporarily moving their business. Ukrainians can get help with living and working in Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, and Germany, and requests for other EU countries are prepared individually. Internally displaced persons in Ukraine can also receive consultations. For example, this virtual centre advised a person looking for an opportunity to leave Mariupol for Poland by car without documents and needed help with free housing, registration of social benefits, and job search. Other examples include a mother with many children from Ukraine in the Czech Republic inquiring about local kindergartens and schools and a pregnant woman who left Kharkiv for Warsaw to give birth and asked about social guarantees. There are thousands of such appeals.
The role, influence, and fate of women in building resilience
According to the UN, more than 9 million Ukrainians have fled the country since the beginning of the war. The vast majority of displaced persons are women who are rescuing their children. Many of them lost their homes and their jobs, and some lost almost everything except their Ukrainian identity. They go to rallies in support of Ukraine, help Ukraine receive humanitarian aid, give comments to foreign media, and fight on the frontlines.
At the same time, they strive to be self-sufficient. Therefore, they are ready for retraining and starting a new life. To help them, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine together with the Projector Institute launched a fund to train 5,000 resettled women in new professions in the creative and IT industries. These will be ten short intensive programs: interface design, graphic design, project management, SEO, PPC, motion design, data science, data snalytics, front-end, and QA. In the first wave, we received about 36,000 applications for training.
In addition, our Ministry supported the initiative, resulting in 200 women from Ukraine receiving a scholarship and free accommodation while studying at a 2-year educational program at an Estonian coding school. The educational program was developed with the participation of Estonian unicorns Bolt, Wise, Veriff, and Glia, as well as the founders of Skype and other IT companies. More than 750 women applied. After training, they will be able to return to Ukraine and develop our IT sector.
After the war: transforming Ukraine into the freest and most convenient country in the next 10 years
The Russian occupiers destroyed the flagship of Ukrainian aviation, the largest and most powerful transport aircraft in the world, the An-225 Mriya. But it is impossible to destroy the dream of Ukrainians for our successful future.
Right now we are working on implementing our vision for 2030. We see the future Ukrainian government as flexible, fast, and mobile, similar to an IT company. All government functions and services should be automated, the number of officials should be reduced, and government institutions should be effectively outsourced. Such governments are more capable of carrying out quick and bold reforms to rebuild the country.
The development of a digital state in Ukraine will involve the development of military defence technologies, the revolutionary simplification of public services, the creation of satellite internet stations, the digital transformation of key areas of the economy, and the introduction of digital subjects in educational programs.
Our Ministry team sees Ukraine in 2030 as the freest and most digital country in the world, with a powerful technological sector, the fastest customs in the world, and the best tax conditions. This year, Ukraine received the official status of a candidate for EU membership and will become a member of the EU. Ukraine will become the largest IT hub in Eastern Europe with the highest GDP growth rates, industrial parks, and our own Silicon Valley.
About the Author:
Valeriya Ionan is the Deputy Minister for Eurointegration for the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine which has developed and launched national programs in digital literacy, digital education, SME and export, regional digital transformation, eurointegration and international relations. Ionan’s background is entrepreneurial. Before working in the Ukrainian government, she founded a number of companies related to services in marketing, sales, finance, HR, education, and media. She is a graduate of the Edinburgh Business School Eastern Europe with certificates in MBA programs in Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Negotiations, Economics, and Human Resources.