Ben Morris
Business Editor Technology
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Ukrainians can access 130 services through the DIIA portal
I remember rounding the corners in Kiev on February 24, 2022, Oleksandr Bornyakov pushing him into a firefight.
It was the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Russian destroyers fighting Ukrainian security forces in the heart of the Ukrainian capital.
“There was shooting, the cars are on fire, the armored vehicles are on fire… When we finally passed… there were a lot of bodies.”
As a government minister, he was ordered to drive hundreds of kilometers west and continue his work in a safer place.
Since 2019, Bornikov, the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, managed the transition to a new app called DIIA (Ukrainian Word of Action) for Ukrainian government services.
The idea was that citizens could access everything they need from their mobile phones. Driver’s license, marriage certificate, House of Representatives certificate, etc.
They started with driver licensing in 2019, which was extremely popular, but the DIIA app was boosted during the pandemic, when joint certificates were added.
“This gave us another 2-3 million people,” says Bornikov.
Despite the war, DIIA continues to develop.
Today, the app hosts 40 government services, including tax payments, car registration and marriage applications.
Perhaps more fun – Ukrainians can make local Eurovision choices via the app, such as choosing a national ju umpire or choosing a national representative.
Additionally, 30 documents are available in the app. Bornikov played some of him for me, including his gun license and car insurance.
There is also a DIIA portal. The DIIA portal can be accessed through a browser on your computer. The portal has 130 services for citizens and businesses.
The total number of DIIA users is 22.7 million.
According to Bornyakov, all of this makes Ukraine one of the major countries when it comes to digital government services. In his opinion, Ukraine is ahead of Estonia, which is famous for its digital government.
“I’ve never seen anyone else do better than us except in Saudi Arabia. Both are related to user count and approach.”
Ministry of Digital Transformation Ukraine
All marriage administrators can run via the DIIA app
How has Ukraine been able to make such progress? Despite the COVID chaos, have you been fighting Russian invaders for the past three years?
According to Bornyakov, part of that is having a proper workforce.
He says that for the past 20 years, Ukraine has been a popular destination for companies seeking to outsource IT projects.
He estimates that Ukraine has 300,000 software developers, many of whom are working on complex projects by large international companies.
“There are a lot of technical and experienced engineers who can do great things,” he says.
They are also not as expensive as elsewhere in the world. So he estimates that between $5 million and $10 million was spent on the development of DIIA.
Hiring a software developer in the UK costs five or ten times more, he says.
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The DIIA app was used to select the Ukrainian Eurovision law.
David Eaves is an associate professor of digital government at the University of London and studies efforts to digitalize government services around the world.
He says that the key to Ukraine’s success was the work that was done before building the app. Using software similar to that used by Estonia, Ukraine created data exchanges, making it easier to flow data from government departments and organizations.
Next, the DIIA app was added above the data exchange.
“If you have this flexibility to move data, it’s much easier to build a new service because you can ask citizens to access the same information instead of asking them to do so again,” says Professor Eves.
Therefore, when applying for profit, users do not need to check their address, birthplace, fighting status and income against their tax records.
This not only reduces the administrative burden, but also means that the government does not need to design a system to remember, store and process this information.
Ministry of Digital Transformation Ukraine
The DIIA app hosts 40 government services and 30 documents
That flexibility allowed Ukraine to add new services to address the challenges of war.
“We have actually implemented around 15 different services related to the war,” says Bornyakov.
For example, if the property is damaged or destroyed, the user can apply for compensation. Citizens can also report the location of Russian military forces through the app.
Professor Eeves also pointed out that the Ukrainian war with Russia has spurred the government to modernize.
“When you’re on a foothold during the war, there’s a sense of urgency. The urgency of providing services is more important than the rules of travelling bureaucrats from time to time,” he says.
Professor Eeves said it is tightening among countries where Ukraine is leading efforts to digitalize government services.
He believes Denmark is probably leading the way with both a solid infrastructure, a range of services and a well-designed user interface.
So what does the future hold? Ukraine is developing an AI system that Bornyakov says could make interactions with the government more smoothly.
He watches AI guide users through different procedures to get them what they want.
“I want to redefine my approach to government services,” he says.
Professor Arbes is excited by the possibility of AI in government services, but he is paying attention.
Developers need to make sure they have reliable data to train their AI, and ensure that their system can see what the correct answer is.
“AI is like having a Ferrari. You can do amazing things, but you’re better off having a good road. Driving a Ferrari on an unpaved road is pretty difficult, right?”
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