eGA leads the digital transformation tasks of EU4DigitalUA project

In November 2020, the European Union launched the EU4DigitalUA project with the EU financial contribution of EUR 25 million to support Ukrainian digital transformation and harmonization with the EU Digital Single Market. The Estonian e-Governance Academy leads the implementation of the electronic governance and cybersecurity tasks of the project, with a total budget of EUR 9.6 million.

The e-Governance Academy’s tasks in the project are focused on the development of digital government infrastructure, modernisation of public e-services, and further development of cyber security and data protection capacities. All activities are conducted in close collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

“Ukraine is strongly committed to digital transformation. The EU supports Ukraine’s further digital development to raise the country’s competitiveness, improve electronic public services for Ukrainian citizens and businesses and foster approximation with the EU Digital Single Market”, said Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.

Photo: Matti Maasikas, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

“We are grateful to the EU for supporting Ukraine’s digital transformation. For more than a year, the team of the Ministry of Digital Transformation has been building a digital state. One of our goals is to create convenient government services. We have already launched the mobile application and portal of electronic services Diya, introduced the world’s first digital passports and shortened business registration into 15 minutes. We are ready to share experiences with other countries and improve the projects we work on every day. Thanks to the EU assistance, Ukraine will raise the quality of digital changes,” noted Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov.

Photo: Mykhailo Fedorov in the kick-off of the project

“E-Governance Academy from Estonia has successfully implemented complex e-government projects in Ukraine since 2012. The data exchange system Trembita and the information system Vulyk for administrative service centres are the most remarkable fruits of our previous collaboration. We use our best practices of building the Estonian digital government to assist Ukrainian people in making their next leap towards a more transparent and efficient society,” highlighted Hannes Astok, Executive Director of the e-Governance Academy.

Photo: Hannes Astok in the kick-off of the project

EU4DigitalUA is the largest bilateral EU e-governance and digital programme in any EU partner country. During its multi-year implementation period, it will support digital transformation, enhance cyber security and data protection, implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and broadband development.

The EU4DigitalUA programme is composed of the following six components:

• Component 1: Interoperability and digital government infrastructure.
• Component 2: Institutional strengthening and capacity development.
• Component 3: Communication and public awareness.
• Component 4: E-services development.
• Component 5: Cyber security and data protection.
• Component 6: Implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement telecommunication chapter and support to government on broadband development.

The Estonian e-Governance Academy (EGA) will implement the components 1, 4 and 5 (cybersecurity).
Fundación Internacional para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP, Spain) will manage implementation of Components 2, 3 and 5 (data protection).

e-Governance Academy’s tasks include connecting primary registers to the data exchange system Trembita as well as developing a nation-wide personal identifier, a government-issued digital identity, and the address registry. The project will also visualise information about broadband access in Ukraine.

The task of public e-services development includes capacity-building to government organisations to design and implement modern and complex e-services.

Cyber security tasks are focused on improving the capacity of government institutions to tackle cyber threats and provide citizens with control over their data that is used by the government.

Background

The project is a continuation of the EGOV4UKRAINE project activities of the U-LEAD with Europe programme, implemented in 2016-2020 by the EU and the Member States’ support. The EGOV4UKRAINE project developed and implemented a backbone for public e-services, the Trembita system, and the modern information system Vulyk for administrative service centres to support the provision of public services.