Why Ukraine Is One Of The World's Most Digital Countries

Rounding a area successful Kyiv connected 24 Feb 2022, Oleksandr Bornyakov remembers driving into a weapon battle.

It was time 1 of Russia's full-scale penetration of Ukraine, and Russian saboteurs were fighting pinch Ukrainian information forces successful nan centre of nan Ukrainian capital.

"There is shooting, cars are burning, armoured vehicles are burning... erstwhile we yet passed... location were a batch of bodies."

As a authorities curate he had been ordered to thrust hundreds of kilometres westbound and proceed his activity successful a safer location.

Beginning successful 2019, Bornykov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, had been managing nan displacement of Ukraine's authorities services to a caller app called Diia (the Ukrainian connection for action).

The thought was that citizens could entree everything they needed from their mobile phones; driving licences, matrimony certificates, location deeds, and overmuch more.

They started pinch driver's licences successful 2019, which was rather popular, but nan Diia app sewage a boost during nan pandemic, erstwhile Covid certificates were added.

"This gave different possibly 2 aliases 3 cardinal people," says Bornykov.

Despite nan warfare Diia has continued to develop.

Today nan app hosts 40 authorities services, including taxation payment, car registration and matrimony applications.

Perhaps much nosy - Ukrainians tin make section selections for Eurovision via nan app, including selecting nationalist assemblage members and choosing nan nationalist representative.

Additionally, 30 documents are disposable connected nan app; Bornykov, flicked done immoderate of his for maine including his weapon licence and car insurance.

There is besides a Diia portal, which tin beryllium accessed via a browser connected a computer, which has 130 services for citizens and businesses.

In full Diia has 22.7 cardinal users.

All this, according to Bornyakov, makes Ukraine 1 of nan starring countries erstwhile it comes to integer authorities services - successful his sentiment putting Ukraine up of Estonia, which is good known for its integer government.

"I haven't seen anybody other doing amended than us, isolated from possibly Saudi Arabia, and this some relates to number of users and and nan approach."

How has Ukraine been capable to make specified progress, contempt nan disruption of Covid and amid, for nan past 3 years, fighting disconnected Russian invaders?

Part of it is having nan correct workforce, according to Bornyakov.

He says that for nan past 20 years Ukraine has been a celebrated destination for companies looking to outsource IT projects.

He estimates that location are 300,000 package developers successful Ukraine, galore of whom person worked connected analyzable projects for large world companies.

"There's a batch of method and knowledgeable engineers that tin do superb things," he says.

They are besides not arsenic costly arsenic elsewhere successful nan world. So, he estimates that betwixt 5 and 10 cardinal dollars was spent connected processing Diia.

Hiring package developers successful nan UK would costs 5 aliases 10 times arsenic much, he says.

David Eaves is subordinate professor of integer authorities astatine University College London, and has studied efforts by governments each complete nan world to digitise their services.

He says nan cardinal to Ukraine's occurrence was activity done anterior to building nan app. Using package akin to that utilized by Estonia, Ukraine created a information exchange, which made it easy for information travel from authorities departments and organisations.

The Diia app was past added connected apical of nan information exchange.

"If you person this elasticity of moving information around, it becomes overmuch easier to build caller services, because alternatively than asking citizens for nan aforesaid accusation each complete again, you tin simply petition their support to entree it," says Prof Eaves.

So, erstwhile applying for a benefit, users don't person to re-enter their address, spot of birth, martial status, and their income could beryllium checked against their taxation records.

Not only does this trim nan administrative burden, but it intends nan authorities doesn't person to creation a strategy to recollect, shop and process this accusation each complete again.

That elasticity allowed Ukraine to adhd caller services to header pinch nan challenges of war.

"We really introduced astir 15 different services related to nan to nan war," says Mr Bornyakov.

For illustration users could use for compensation if their spot was damaged aliases destroyed. Citizens could besides study nan location of Russian troops done nan app.

Prof Eaves besides points retired that Ukraine's warfare pinch Russia has spurred authorities to modernise.

"When you are connected a wartime footing, there's a consciousness of urgency. The urgency of delivering nan work becomes much important than rules that sometimes travel up bureaucracies," he says.

That's put Ukraine among nan countries starring nan effort to digitise authorities services, according to Prof Eaves.

He thinks Denmark is astir apt starring nan measurement pinch some a coagulated infrastructure, scope of services and good designed personification interface.

So what does nan early hold? Ukraine is processing AI systems which Bornyakov says person nan imaginable to make interactions pinch authorities smoother.

He sees AI guiding a personification done nan various steps to get what they want.

"We want to redefine nan attack to authorities services," he says.

While Prof Eaves is excited astir nan anticipation of AI successful authorities services, he advises caution.

Developers request to beryllium judge they person reliable information to train nan AI and past guarantee nan strategy tin study what nan correct answers are.

"AI is for illustration having a Ferrari. You tin do astonishing things, but you amended person bully roads. Pretty difficult to thrust a Ferrari connected a ungraded road, right?"