Earlier than February 24th, few individuals may discover Ukraine on a map, and even now for a lot of, we’re a distant nation, about which just one factor is understood — struggle. However as a Ukrainian, I wish to inform slightly extra about us, in order that the readers of this column know not solely about our ache but additionally about our achievements. Listed below are 5 fascinating factors about how Ukrainians work together with the digital world and the way digital impacts our society.

The Common State of Digitalisation in Society

Ukraine is regularly and systematically digitised. By the tip of 2021, 86% of Ukrainians used the Web — an indicator on the stage of Jap European nations; lower than in Latvia, however greater than in Poland.

If we evaluate historic information, 10 years in the past the Web was utilized by a minority, solely 38% of the inhabitants; and even 5 years in the past, in 2016, this indicator was on the stage of 61%. This lagging of digitalisation from different nations might be defined by the isolationist coverage of the Soviet Union and the financial issues it left behind. Thus, the primary private computer systems appeared in Ukraine virtually 20 years later than in the remainder of the world; and cash to purchase a pc and entry the Web appeared to the inhabitants even later.

Talking of units, Ukraine has now caught up with the worldwide development of cell phone dominance. Nearly all of customers accessed the Web from their cellphone even on the finish of 2021, however for the reason that starting of the Russian invasion, smartphones have considerably overtaken computer systems.

It must be famous that our digitisation has are available very useful. At a crucial second, individuals had been discovering out information not solely from TV but additionally from YouTube accounts of TV channels, from Web radio and social media. And one of many first purposes the Ukrainians created for the reason that invasion started was one which stories on air raids. However there are different manifestations of how digital helps actual life.

Digital Transformation of Governmental Companies 

Again in September 2019, the Ministry of Digital Transformation was created in Ukraine. This ministry is engaged in digitalisation of how of citizen interplay with the state – on its web site, the said purpose is to make 100% of public companies out there on-line by 2024.

Even earlier than the creation of the specialised ministry, we had sure registers in digital kind, however with it, digitisation turned extra huge, and citizen entry to details about the state or native self-government turned extra clear.

So for now 84% of Ukrainians have a cellphone with the Diya software of their pocket, which lets you open your personal enterprise or pay taxes for an present one in a few clicks. All necessary paperwork of a citizen can be found right here: from passports to covid certificates.

After February 24th, Diya additionally added capabilities that let you assist the military with cash or details about the enemy, and the flexibility to report property broken through the struggle. And for some time, the appliance even had a ‘digital sedative’ — a mini-game the place the participant flies a Bayraktar (a well-liked drone that turned a meme attributable to its effectiveness).

On-line Healthcare

Just a few years earlier than the coronavirus pandemic, Ukrainians had digital medical playing cards and the flexibility to remotely seek the advice of a household physician and obtain all the required referrals with out leaving house. In fact, as with all innovation, there have been difficulties with implementation on the bottom. Nonetheless, we entered the pandemic already with this base, in 2020 84% of Ukrainians selected a household physician, that’s, they started to take pleasure in the advantages of the reform. We continued to make use of these similar alternatives even after the Russian invasion. Most Ukrainians overseas can not less than write or name their physician in Ukraine and get recommendation from a specialist who is aware of their medical historical past.

I’ll inform a private story. Once I get to know my present household physician in 2020, she was consulting through Viber one other affected person, who was caught in Poland. And once I wanted assist in 2022, the physician additionally consulted remotely and prescribed a referral to a specialist, regardless that she was overseas on the time.

Banking and FinTech

Our nation is fortunate to have virtually the good monetary know-how consultants who pushed all the area of interest ahead — Monobank. At one time, its builders pressured all the banking sector to meet up with the younger undertaking in a rush each when it comes to know-how and customer support. These days, it’s troublesome to think about a financial institution with out an software, though in 2017, even the presence of a correctly working internet workplace was a surprise out there to few market gamers. It is a subjective view, however it’s based mostly on repeated makes an attempt to make use of the companies of various banks.

In fact, Monobank will not be the one client-oriented financial institution on the planet with a handy interface. We are able to additionally point out the Kazakh Kaspi, which entered the Ukrainian market in the summertime of 2021, or British Revolut (whose cofounder Vlad Yatsenko, by the way in which, is Ukrainian too). And the founders of Mono themselves open comparable tasks overseas – Leobank in Azerbaijan or Koto in Nice Britain. Nonetheless, it should be recognised that not all nations are so fortunate. Residents of some nations must pay utility payments in branches and even ship bodily checks by mail, not due to a love for classic, however due to the dearth of recent analogues.

If we communicate within the context of the struggle, right here too the digitalisation of banks got here in useful and performed its position within the phenomenon of the Ukrainian volunteer motion. We used to have a ‘charity’ tab in lots of banking purposes, the place you could possibly donate to sure charitable funds. Now, many individuals use the product ‘jars’ (in Ukrainian it’s a homonym of the phrase financial institution) in charity gatherings, which show details about the fund, the aim, and progress of the gathering, the variety of donors, and many others. 

Dropping cash to any fund is now even simpler than buying in a web-based retailer. And that brings us to the following level.

Digital funds in all places

Talking of funds, it must be famous that Ukraine has a excessive share of digital, non-cash funds. Earlier than the Russian invasion, 9 out of 10 monetary transactions in Ukraine had been carried out with out money, based on NBU information revealed on February 22nd.

We pay with playing cards, telephones, and QR codes in all places: in outlets, cafes, public transport and many others. We go away a cashless tip for waiters and purchase gasoline cashless in gasoline station purposes to save lots of time.

And at a crucial second, it turned out to be necessary. In any case, through the panic, it was considerably troublesome for the cashiers to work usually (like all different individuals, there was a panic) – for a number of days, the federal government even formally requested individuals to pay with playing cards to minimise the necessity to transfer money. I hope sometime within the historical past books we’ll study the extent of this affect. However it’s already potential to say that cashless operations assist the security of each people and society as an entire. And the ratio of money and non-cash transactions not directly signifies the transparency of society and its democracy.

Conclusion

Ukraine will not be solely about ache and struggle. Ukraine can also be about sturdy individuals and good specialists who know easy methods to construct cool issues. Top-of-the-line methods to assist Ukraine now could be to present jobs to Ukrainian refugees in your nation, or to freelancers working from Ukraine. And you may relaxation assured, that they may rapidly grasp the required applied sciences and carry out work on the highest stage.

PS: We’re ready for visiting vacationers for the upcoming Victory Day – the date will likely be introduced later 💙

Column by Polina Kedis, Content material Marketer at newage. digital company