The Brookings Institution published a study “Ukraine: Digital Resilience in Time of War”, which analyzed the digitalization of the Ukrainian government and society over the past 11 years, from registers on paper to a state in a smartphone.
What digitalization has brought
The authors of the study reviewed the period from 2012 to the end of 2023, from the first steps of digitizing documents to the coverage of almost all areas of life by digitalization. George Ingram and Priya Vora noted the adoption of the Law on Asset Declaration by the Government in 2014. They also assessed the impact of the creation of the Prozorro e-procurement platform in 2015. These are important tools in the fight against corruption and further promotion of transparent public administration.
Analysts paid considerable attention to the creation of Diia and the impact of digitalization of services on society. Thanks to Diia, Ukraine became the first country where a digital passport is equivalent to a paper one. In two years, the real anti-corruption and economic effect of digitalization has amounted to UAH 16.3 billion (USD 0.43 billion). The potential anti-corruption and economic effect is UAH 48 billion (USD 1.3 billion).
During the full-scale war with Russia, dozens of online services were launched to help Ukrainians in the most difficult situations.
Important lessons for the world
The experts saw a good experience and a basis for building win-win relationships with global partners. The authors of the study listed particularly important lessons for the world:
- Technology and policy go hand in hand. Registries and data exchanges between them, backed by regulations, have become critical factors for Diia. Without them, e-government services would not be flawless and reliable. The user-centered approach to the development of digital public services was also a crucial component and reason for the success of Diia.
- Cloud computing facilitates and reduces risks. The transition to cloud computing has ensured data integrity, mitigated the impact of attacks on data centers, and improved the ability to deliver digital services.
- Political leadership is key. The leadership of President Zelensky and the Ministry of Digital Transformation has dramatically changed the direction from partial digitalization to full transformation.
- Crisis and urgency drive adoption. Launching e-services is easier when the value proposition and trust are high. The war has created an urgent need to interact with the Government digitally: IDP status registration, payments to IDPs and eRestoration.
- Transparency can be built into the code, but accountability requires a multi-pronged approach. To maintain trust and reduce abuse, oversight and accountability must be continuously strengthened.
- Mutual learning and the exchange of solutions can accelerate digital transformation. All countries are digitizing, and the opportunity to learn from each other is high.
Leadership in digitalization
“The digital state, cloud storage and technology helped us survive the beginning of a full-scale war. Ukraine is pleased to be a global trendsetter in digitalization and share its experience with others,” says Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
Digitalization has become a symbol of Ukraine, and in a few years we have managed to go the distance that other countries have taken decades to go. People look up to Ukraine, want to cooperate, and strive to integrate Diia into their countries.
Recently, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution that allows developers from other countries to use the Diia code and create their own applications based on it.
