How Ukraine Built a Leading Digital Government Despite War

Since 2019, Ukraine has undergone a digital transformation led by its Ministry of Digital Transformation, despite facing major challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war with Russia. Central to this effort is Diia, a mobile app and web portal that allows citizens to access over 40 government services and 30 documents, including tax payments, car registrations, and marriage applications. The app has gained 22.7 million users and also offers features like Eurovision voting and war-related services such as property damage claims and reporting Russian troop positions. According to Deputy Minister Oleksandr Bornyakov, Ukraine’s strong IT sector—with around 300,000 software developers—helped keep development costs low while maintaining high technical standards. Experts credit Ukraine’s success to its prior creation of a government data exchange system, similar to Estonia’s, which streamlined data sharing across departments. This allowed for efficient integration of services into Diia without repeatedly collecting citizen information. Experts like Prof. David Eaves from University College London praise Ukraine’s agility and urgency under wartime conditions, placing it among global leaders in digital government, alongside Denmark. The future may include AI to improve user experience, though experts caution that robust data infrastructure is essential for such advancements.