During a recent visit to Berlin, Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Oksana Fedorova (also referred to in the interview as Ferchuk) held discussions with German counterpart Karsten Wildberger regarding deepened cooperation in digital government and artificial intelligence. The two nations agreed to form joint teams to evaluate Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, identifying both successes and failures that could inform Germany’s own technological policies.
At the heart of Ukraine’s digital ecosystem is Diia, a comprehensive platform accessible via mobile app and web portal that provides citizens with over 30 digital documents, including passports, driving licenses, and tax identification numbers. The service also facilitates a wide array of public functions, such as vehicle sales, online fine payments, and even marriage or divorce registrations, with physical certificates mailed to users abroad. In total, the platform offers approximately 250 public services online.
Fedorova highlighted a cultural distinction between the IT sector and traditional government operations: the necessity of allowing failure to drive innovation. She explained that while legislative frameworks exist, Ukraine’s approach empowers IT teams to experiment and make mistakes, provided they do not compromise data security or legal standards. This flexibility has allowed Ukraine to rapidly adapt services to user needs.
A key proposal put forward by Ukraine is for the European Union to utilize its territory as an
Can they really sustain this pace during active conflict? I worry about long-term infrastructure resilience amid ongoing strikes.
Fascinating how wartime necessity accelerated Ukraine’s digital transformation. Diia is genuinely impressive compared to our sluggish bureaucracy.