In the early hours of 24 February 2022, the lives of millions in Ukraine were changed forever as Russian troops launched a large-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory. Some observers predicted that the country was likely to fall in just days. A year and a half later, Ukraine has defied these predictions and with support from around the world, resisted its far larger neighbour.

For those in countries blessed with peace, it is difficult to imagine how any semblance of normal life can continue in Ukraine, especially at the heart of government. Yet while the war rages on, the country still faces the same governance challenges as many other nations. Among them is the need to lay the foundations for long-term growth as the world enters a new era of artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and the ever-greater digitalisation of both the private and public sectors.

“Having a strong vision was key to overcoming disruptions and continuing to serve citizens and businesses,” Valeriya Ionan, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation, told Governance Matters. “When you know what you want to achieve, even the most challenging obstacles will not stop you from the result. In our case, our vision is to build the most convenient digital state in the world. From that vision we have developed a clear strategy and roadmap and that has been very important. It has allowed us to make progress on those goals while also supporting the war effort.”

Establishing the Ministry of Digital Transformation

The Ministry of Digital Transformation is the newest Ukrainian ministry. It was created in 2019 to implement the “State in a Smartphone” vision, an essential part of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s election manifesto. When it was founded, the Ministry’s goals in pursuit of this vision were to move 100% of government services online, to deliver high-speed internet coverage for 95% of the country, to have six million Ukrainians participate in its digital skills development programme, and to grow the IT sector to reach a 10% share of GDP.

Its flagship initiative is “Diia”, which means “action” and is an acronym of “the state and me” in Ukrainian. “Diia is an ecosystem of different projects,” said Ionan. At its heart is the Diia app and web portal through which citizens can access more than 90 digitalised state services. Alongside that are a range of digital projects such as Diia.Business, an online portal and network of support centres specifically to help entrepreneurs; Diia.City, branded as the “world’s first digital city”; and Diia.Education, a national edutainment platform for reskilling and digital literacy, which also incorporates listings of job vacancies.

“We believe that the less government people have in their lives, the better,” said Ionan. “When we are making a new product or service, we want to be human-centric and make things that people want to use. Ukraine was the first country in the world to equate a digital passport with a physical one. We were the fourth European country to launch a digital driver’s licence. Ukrainians have the world’s fastest business registration, which can be done within 10 minutes. And 91% of newborns in Ukraine are registered via Diia.”

Contributing Digital Skills to the War Effort

The outbreak of war in spring 2022 changed some of the priorities at the Ministry of Digital Transformation. “We studied international experiences, but also created a unique Ukrainian story about how we could adapt,” said Ionan. “We had made a lot of progress before the war, and having a resilient and solid digital infrastructure gave us the opportunity to respond quickly to new challenges. Now Diia is being used to support both civilians and the military.”

Through Diia, the Ministry has created new services to support Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), provide social and financial assistance, and report damaged property. It has created a chatbot called eVorog (which translates as “eEnemy”) that citizens can use to report the movement of Russian troops or equipment and embedded radio and television services into the Diia app to provide accurate news and combat disinformation. It also started UNITED24, the official fundraising platform that has provided an opportunity for people around the world to contribute financially to Ukraine.

“Ukraine is looking for outside-the-box solutions,” said Ionan. “At one point in the war, our Ministry worked closely with the General Staff of the armed forces and with UNITED24. Together we came up with our top project: Army of Drones. This is a comprehensive programme that includes the procurement, delivery, maintenance, and replacement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as pilot training.” The project has been supported by global celebrities, including the Star Wars actor Mark Hamill. At the time of writing, the total amount collected through UNITED24 stood at more than US$ 458m, almost a third of which was dedicated to drones. Ukraine also launched the BRAVE1 cluster, a platform to promote collaboration between the state, the military, and the defence tech industry.

Creating a New Organisational Architecture

Good governments rely on systems and processes. Even before its innovative actions during the war, the Ministry of Digital Transformation had made rapid progress. Diia moved from proposal to release in just four months. Since 2019, Diia has been used by more than 19 million Ukrainians. In a sector where governments are often bedevilled with problems, this is a record that required high-level skills and capabilities, and an effective organisational architecture.

“To achieve results promptly, we have built an organisational structure at the level of the entire state,” said Ionan. “One of the most efficient solutions we have implemented was creating the position of Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDTO), the first time Ukraine has ever had such a role.” Each Government ministry and regional administration has its own CDTO, an additional role performed by one of the deputy heads of those institutions. CDTOs in ministries draw up digital transformation strategies, implement digital technologies, develop and implement information systems, and manage projects. Regional CDTOs are responsible for the development of basic infrastructure, the introduction of electronic services, and using digital tools such as dashboards to make management easier.

“The role of the CDTOs is not limited to the implementation of popular e-services or the development of a paperless state,” said Ionan. “We see them as development managers for their regions and communities. They control the processes and guidelines for creating or re-engineering services, which allows the Ministry of Digital Transformation to keep abreast of their work. Part of my role is to coordinate regional digital transformation by aligning with all these CDTOs. This system has allowed us to digitalise various industries and spheres of the state’s life and establish digital projects on the regional level.”

To evaluate the effectiveness of regional CDTOs, the Ministry of Digital Transformation developed the Regional Digital Transformation Index measuring the processes of informatisation and digitalisation in 24 regions and more than 1,400 communities in Ukraine. In 2022, the Index, which is on a scale of 0 to 1, registered at 0.651. “This finding allows us to say that the CDTOs are performing at a high level,” said Ionan. “Our strategic goal for 2023 is to have CDTOs in every community. Having these officials, who have the political will and ability to develop digital culture, is helping us to overcome challenges and adapt to new circumstances.”

Youth and Business Experience Combine

Two of the stand-out features of the Ministry of Digital Transformation are the age and the background of the people tasked with running it. Many are young and have the benefit of private sector experience. Ionan, now 32, joined the Ministry at the age of 28 and is one of the youngest deputy ministers in the Ukrainian Government. She also founded a number of companies before joining public service.

Her boss, the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, is also 32, which makes him the youngest minister in the history of Ukrainian politics. He also holds the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Innovation, Education, Science, and Technology and before government ran a digital marketing business. He has been praised for his work in maintaining Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, including through a direct appeal to Starlink CEO Elon Musk. Musk’s internet satellite service has played a critical role in maintaining Ukraine’s communications.

“We in the Ministry are looking at the connection between the state and citizens from the perspective of being ordinary users or entrepreneurs,” said Ionan. “Our management team comes from the private sector and this experience is valuable since it helps us to optimise and build processes in government more efficiently. One aspect of our business background is that our approach is always results-oriented. We have concrete goals and we are agile and not afraid to disrupt processes.”

Shaping the Digital Culture of the State

One of the interesting developments in Ukraine, said Ionan, is that the roll-out of digital services has had a tangible impact on expectations within ministries and regional authorities. “Our work has affected not only the lives of citizens, but the culture of the state,” she said. “People want more digital services that are quicker and less stressful. We have a clear set of priorities when it comes to understanding what we need to do to ensure that all services are online. As we do that, our citizen-centred philosophy remains unchanged. We are mindful of the need to maintain a focus on the human user experience.”

She attributes the strength of the Ukrainian state’s interest in digitalisation in part to the success of the Diia platform. “Due to the Diia ecosystem, the very idea of digitalisation has become popular culture around Ukraine,” Ionan said. “Most of our citizens are accessing digital services and through Diia.Education, Diia.Business, or Diia.City, they are seeing that digitalisation can help in many spheres of life.”

Building Digital Literacy Across Ukraine

Enhancing digital literacy across the population has been a priority for many governments. In 2020, a study by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the United Nations Development Programme showed that 53% of Ukrainians had below-average digital skills. Alongside improving services and infrastructure, Ionan and her colleagues have been working to improve their fellow citizens’ ability to engage with the digital realm.

“Our world is turbulent and ever-changing. We learned lessons first during the COVID-19 pandemic and now from the full-scale war,” she said. “The workforce is undergoing significant transformation. New jobs are emerging, while others are becoming obsolete. Remote job opportunities across various industries have risen due to the war. Therefore, developing effective reskilling and upskilling strategies becomes critical.”

In spring 2023, the Ministry of Digital Transformation relaunched Diia.Education, previously known as Diia.Digital Education. Diia.Education promotes digital literacy, reskilling, and lifelong learning. The platform provides more than 150 online educational series covering everything from graphic design, project management, and launching a startup to baking, video editing, and data analysis. The content is presented in the form of micro-learning courses, podcasts, webinars, and guides. These are available both to Ukrainians and to foreign users and can be accessed in both Ukrainian and English.

Today, our innovations are helping us to stay resilient and fight for freedom. In the future, they will become the basis of the recovery process and the rebuilding of Ukraine.

“With Diia.Education, we plan to reduce the unemployment rate, build new international partnerships, produce more innovative educational content, and create a robust community of educational initiatives throughout Ukraine,” said Ionan. “The most innovative educational product we created is a range of simulators – tools that emulate real-life work situations and allow users to try out the role of a professional. We want it to be practical and help people ease into work as an important step towards solving the problem of unemployment among IDPs.” The platform includes a job search section and a catalogue of vacancies, as well as career quizzes to help people identify potential professions, digital literacy and other skills tests, and certificates for completed courses.

Innovating to Support Business

As well as supporting people in mastering new skills and professions, the Ukrainian Government has also prioritised supporting the development of digital businesses. Its Diia.City initiative was launched in February 2022, just two weeks before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We are transforming Ukraine into a country of IT companies and startups,” said President Zelenskyy in his speech at the launch event.

Ionan explained further. “Diia.City is essentially a tax and legal regime that IT companies can choose to join. Those that do so will enjoy one of the most favourable tax systems in the world, featuring rates five times lower than the general taxation system in Ukraine,” she said. “It also offers flexible employment options, tools for attracting investments, and robust intellectual property protection.”

Originally envisioned as a haven for international and Ukrainian outsourcing companies, R&D centres, and startups, Diia.City has adapted to the changing priorities and challenges posed by the ongoing war. It now places additional focus on supporting companies involved in developing drones and defence technology solutions.

“This project continues to grow, with companies applying to join the programme daily,” said Ionan. “Since its launch, we have attracted more than 600 ‘residents’, including Samsung, Revolut, Visa, Nokia, Lyft, SoftServe, and GlobalLogic. From the post-war perspective, Diia.City aims to play a vital role in positioning Ukraine as a European tech powerhouse.”

The Government has also introduced an e-residency scheme which will allow IT and creative freelancers to register and run businesses remotely in Ukraine. “After we have completed developing the scheme, we plan to attract about 1,000 e-residents at the minimum viable product (MVP) stage,” said Ionan.

Looking Forward to a Brighter Future

Ukraine faces dark times, yet Ionan and her colleagues remain focused on laying the groundwork for the country’s future development. “We are a country which is located in the heart of Europe with very talented people,” said Ionan. “Young people can see their history being created in front of them and the price that is being paid for the country to have a free future. They feel the spirit of change, and we support them. Within the Ministry, we adopt a philosophy that focuses on the long term because we want the best possible outcomes for future generations.

“This is our motivation, particularly as a young team, for working for the government and being engaged in the great reforms that are changing Ukraine for the better. Today, our innovations are helping us to stay resilient and fight for freedom. In the future, they will become the basis of the recovery process and the rebuilding of Ukraine.”