On 23 February, the Recommendations of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme on digital transformation of administrative services provision and ASCs, developed by Ukrainian and Swedish experts, were presented at the conference “Digital Transformation of Administrative Services and Administrative Service Centers: Challenges and Opportunities”.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, greeted the participants of the event and highlighted: “Digital transformation of public services is one of the most important priorities of the MinDigital. We create convenient government services that simplify the lives of Ukrainians. Our goal is to transform 100% of public services online by 2024 to ensure that every Ukrainian has equal opportunities and equal access to them. The Ministry has already made significant progress in implementing a comprehensive reform of administrative services. And we are grateful to our European partners, the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, for their cooperation in our joint projects. In particular, it is the introduction of technical conditions for the development of public electronic services, modernisation of ASCs, creation of information systems "Vulyk" and "Trembita".

“Digital transformation highly increases the efficiency of the state as a service institution for citizens as well as significantly optimises the internal management processes in the state. The dynamics in this area observed in Ukraine today highlights the need of hromadas for knowledge and tools for implementing digital solutions at the local level. I am confident that the recommendations of the U-LEAD Programme will be a guide for governmental authorities and hromadas to ensure modern, and convenient access to online and offline services for people, which is one of the priorities of the EU in Ukraine,” commented Natalia Starostenko, Head of Local Development Sector of the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

The document features the recommendations for new challenges in the field of administrative services caused by the significant intensification of digital transformation on the state level and the transformation of the field of administrative services. The document is designed to draw the attention of responsible governmental authorities to the challenges in this area and the importance of ensuring conditions for accessible and quality administrative services. The Swedish experience in the digital transformation of public services and recommendations for the development of effective digital transformation strategies were also presented at the event.

“Sweden’s path to digital transformation is characterized by a decentralized system of government, delegation of a significant part of powers to autonomous local self-government authorities, a high level of trust in government and a long history of IT development in the public sector, which is reminiscent of the current situation in Ukraine. I am glad that the Swedish experience can be useful in creating favourable conditions for the provision of accessible and high-quality administrative services to residents of hromadas across Ukraine,” said Susanna Dellans, Sida Programme Director of U-LEAD with Europe.

Denys Ivanov, Head of the Expert Group for Implementation and Quality Assessment of Electronic Services of the Directorate for Development of Electronic Services of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mari Pedak, EGOV4UKRAINE Project Manager, Bohdan Pytel, Head of the Administrative Service Center in Ivano-Frankivsk, Roman Matviichuk, Senior Expert on Administrative Services of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, joined the discussion of challenges and opportunities in the field of digitalization of administrative services.