Ukraine’s Rapid Digital Leap
Area 603,628 km2
Population 36,744,636
National Cyber Security Index 75.32 (2023)
Digital Development Level 55.96 (2023)
In 2012, when eGA started its first municipality projects in western Ukraine, bureaucrats in ministries were still carrying huge folders around. Nevertheless, local municipal leaders, such as mayor of Vinnytsia and later prime minister Volodymyr Groysman, were keen to update their governance systems. After the 2014 revolution, the focus of digitalization immediately shifted to the central government. As the core group of digital enthusiasts ascended from municipal government to national government, Ukraine was able to get an excellent start.
The initial momentum was boosted after Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory, as his campaign manager, Mykhailo Fedorov, became the minister of digital transformation. Just before he took this position, Mr. Fedorov visited Estonia and eGA. After this trip, the political leadership was in place and had a clear vision of how to proceed. With the help of various donors, international partners, and mentors, all the necessary conditions to accelerate digital transformation were created. The next step was inviting people from the private sector to oversee the implementation. Today, almost all deputy ministers have a private-sector background and know how to make things happen.
Assisted by eGA experts, Ukraine quickly implemented the basic functionalities for successful e-government: legal framework, data-exchange environment Trembita system, security principles, and electronic identity.
Establishing these systems in a country as large as Ukraine was challenging. For example, one of the first hurdles was to establish a uniform person registry for the whole country, as different oblasts were registering people on different bases (e.g., either at birth or when eligible for taxation). But given that the leadership for such change was in place, the coordination challenges were quickly overcome. However, considerable work with data quality improvement is continuing in collaboration with the eGA team, as correct data is essential for e-services development, and the country has many registers and databases.
Developing their e-government for the mobile platform Diia (Ukrainian for “Action”) is the tech innovation that Ukraine is probably best known and praised for internationally. What made this possible was that Ukraine started its digital transformation when technological progress put a smartphone in everyone’s pocket. However, the war has also created an enormous need for mobile-based services, as many people have been forced to abandon their homes, often leaving their computers behind. Interestingly, the refugees have also prompted Poland to recognise and adapt to identifying Ukrainians using the QR code generated in their mobile phones.
Valeriya Ionan, the deputy minister for Eurointegration at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, says that public acceptance of digital transformation has been tremendous and has helped to make the shifts so fast.
“Let’s be honest: citizens don’t actually want to communicate with the government; the less it’s in their life, the better,” Ms. Ionan says. “So when we introduced Diia with a mobile-first design, easy-to-use interface, people were super-satisfied. Through their smartphone, they can pay taxes, receive subsidies, and open businesses while sitting at home or, as often happens nowadays, in the bomb shelter.”
What is remarkable about Diia is that it is not just an application but also the center of a whole digital ecosystem. At the beginning of 2023, the mobile application had 18.6 million users.
Currently, Diia has four main projects: Diia App for digital documents, the most popular digital services, and digital signatures; Diia Digital Education, an entire educational platform; Diia Business, a combination of online consultations and offline networking hubs for SMEs; and Diia City, with special tax and legal conditions for IT companies in Ukraine, including rules, requirements, and registration process.
The list is impressive, but Ms. Ionan says that these platforms are constantly being further developed. The results are evident, because every time they add a new service for Diia, the number of users increases by millions. For example, they are transforming the Diia App into Diia SuperApp, which would enable all the major transactions with the state via one app.
The Diia portal will enable users to register a business in just 20 minutes—quicker than any other portal in the world.
“I have to say, I have been honored to watch my Ukrainian and Estonian colleagues discussing who can open a business faster online,” Ms. Ionan says with a smile.
Perhaps the most revolutionary part of the ecosystem is the education platform. Built on the premise that digitalisation is useless without digital literacy, this platform offers a variety of microlearning courses and tests in an edutainment format. It currently has 1.5 million users. However, on top of this, Diia Digital Education includes a network of hubs where people without smartphones or the skills to operate them can access services in one place. Currently, they have more than 6200 hubs running nationwide. This will ensure that everyone can benefit from the digital transformation.
On top of this, Ukraine has received a grant from Google to upgrade the educational portal to make it the best in the world. The need for this is acute, as many Ukrainians have been forced to relocate, which often also requires them to reskill or upskill. According to Ms. Ionan, their ambition is to provide personalised education courses, combined with tests, virtual simulations, and listings, so that job seekers can find the solutions to all their problems in one place.
As a result of its ambitious digital transformation, Ukraine made remarkable progress in digital governance, climbing to 30th place globally in the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) in 2024—an impressive leap of 16 positions since 2022. Moreover, Ukraine secured fifth place in the Online Services Index, highlighting its commitment to providing accessible and user-friendly digital public services.
Ukraine’s digital transformation has set a benchmark for other nations, demonstrating how a digital-first strategy can enhance governance, stimulate innovation, and build resilience—even in the face of significant challenges.
Lessons learned:
- In the smartphone era, mobile-first and easy-to-use interfaces should be the keywords for public e-services. The next step in development will be from mobile-first to mobile-only design.
- Engage all government services under a simple brand to communicate more efficiently. Share your best practice and innovative solutions with others to enhance public-services provision.