Ukraine connects global startups with government teams to solve public sector problems

More agile, personalised and open-sourced solutions were among some key strengths of startups mentioned by speakers at the launch event for GovTech Lab UA, Ukraine’s first public innovation programme. 

The launch event happened on July 2 in Kyiv, Ukraine, co-organised by Global Government Technology Centre (GGTC) Kyiv and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI). 

Supported by Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation and funded by the Swiss government, GovTech Lab UA will be ran by GGTC Kyiv. 

GGTC Kyiv is the world’s second govtech centre established under the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Network (C4IR). 

The govtech lab would facilitate the matchmaking between Ukrainian public sector institutions and global startups.  

Why bring startups and government together 

GGTC Kyiv’s Head of Innovation Piloting, Kateryna Frolova, said that launching GovTech Lab UA was a conscious effort to expand open innovation in Ukraine.  

Open innovation was about seeking solutions to government challenges from outside the traditional internal teams, said Frolova. 

At the same time, it also provided opportunities for innovative startups and external experts to learn how to work with the government to solve challenges, she noted. 

According to UK-based consultancy PUBLIC’s Deputy Director Chiara Carlini, bridging the gap between startups and the government required several interventions that could be served by govtech labs like GovTech Lab UA. 

These interventions include providing dedicated funding and spaces for experimentation, centralised hubs to consolidate govtech efforts, as well as working through procurement and technology system reforms.  

“Bringing these two worlds together showcase best practices and give a strong signal to investors to take the [govtech] sector seriously,” she added. 

With a focus on the govtech startup ecosystem, PUBLIC is currently supporting GGTC Kyiv to design the GovTech Lab UA. 

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How the matchmaking works 

Starting August until next March, GovTech Lab UA would launch an open call to the Ukrainian public sector to submit challenges they are facing that could be solved by technology. 

Three challenges would be selected by GGTC Kyiv and the advisory board based on the selection criteria that will be released later. 

This would be followed by an open call for Ukrainian and international start-ups to apply to solve these challenges, in which only nine startups – three for each govtech challenge – would be selected. 

During the innovation bootcamp, the nine startups would be supported by GGTC Kyiv with funding and technical guidance to work with the public sector institutions to develop a minimum viable product (MVP). 

For example, GGTC Kyiv would launch a series of workshops centred on topics around product design for government entities and technical/non-technical development to scale in the Ukrainian public sector for start-ups. 

On demo day, GGTC Kyiv and the advisory board will select one startup that best addresses each govtech challenge. They would collaborate with the relevant public institution to develop a procurement strategy for piloting these solutions. 

The winning pilot solutions would receive approximately €100,000 (SG$150,011), which would vary according to the scope.  

The startups would also retain the intellectual property, with the agreement between the startup and public sector institution clearly detailing the usage rights and data-sharing terms. 

Ukraine's Government-as-a-Startup model

At the launch event, Valeriya Ionan, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister, Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on Innovations, Digitalisation and Global Partnerships, explained several cornerstones of Ukraine’s digital success. 

She pointed to the need for agility and speed when it comes to creating new digital products and tools, with the government essentially operating like a startup. 

Government as a startup was more about adopting an agile approach, rather than its organisational structure, she explained. 

This meant being open, understanding market challenges, and reacting quickly, she added.  

Ukraine kickstarted its digital government efforts in 2019 by creating the Ministry of Digital Transformation and announcing its vision to build the world’s most convenient digital state.  

“Having this vision is very important because everything we do and create, we try to align and ask ourselves if it does respond or brings us closer to our vision,” said Ionan at the event. 

In just six years, Ukraine moved from 102nd to 5th in the ranking for UN’s Online Services Index, which measures a government’s capability to provide services and communicate with its citizens digitally. 

Ukraine’s digital government has also become a lifeline since the Russian invasion in 2022.  

“Ukraine would not be able to hash it up now when you have active invasion war if you had not prepared the background [of the government’s leadership in digital transformation],” said Estonia’s former First Lady and international advisor on cybersecurity to Ukraine’s Digital Transformation Ministry, Ieva IIves, to United24 Media.  

Ionan similarly acknowledged that the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukraine war were the key events that accelerated the adoption of digital tools in the government and wider society. 

“The only way to have the government be effective is to be able to react fast enough and efficient enough to respond to the crises and to provide quality services,” said UNDP Ukraine’s Public Sector Digitalisation Programme’s Project Manager, Volodymyr Brusilovskyy, at the event.  

You can find other articles written about Ukraine's digital government here.