We’re now accustomed to instant online service from businesses – buying, selling, communicating and sharing information has never been easier and more accessible. At the same time, most government and public sector entities have yet to catch up with this trend. For the most part, these crucial institutions still operate in an inefficient, hard-to-access, and paper-based way, frustrating us when we interact with government services.
Understanding this, the Ukrainian Government has made its primary objective to transform the outdated, bureaucratic system into a modern digital state, providing fast, stress-free online services starting in 2019. This initiative led to the creation of Diia, a Ukrainian digital public service ecosystem.
What is Diia?
Diia, which stands for “action” in Ukrainian, is a digital ecosystem represented by a mobile app and a web portal that provide citizens access to a vast range of online government services. First introduced at a small IT forum in 2019, the project created a real furor both among Ukrainians and the global community. Just a year later, the first release of the Diia mobile app took Ukrainians by storm gaining the first million users in the first few days. Today, the mobile application and web portal are still gaining popularity, enjoying almost 19 and 22 million users respectively.
As a person who likes trying new things, I was also among the first to download the Diia app to my smartphone. Even back then in 2020, when the app had way fewer features, it exceeded my expectations and I knew it would change the way we interact with public sector institutions. Now, I can honestly say that Diia has made my citizen experience in Ukraine more convenient, less time-consuming, and somehow, even without direct interaction with a real person, it’s still human-like.
In my day-to-day life, I use it to access my digital passport to confirm my identity, submit tax filings, access health-related certificates, apply for documents, and take part in e-voting to influence the decision-making processes that will define my life in the future. For me as a citizen, it provides a sense of engagement and control over my time and my interactions with government services. As the project is still evolving rapidly, I’m excited to explore even more of the Diia services and see how they will shape our future.
Key components of the Diia ecosystem
As of now, the Diia ecosystem incorporates 5 key components.
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Diia Mobile App
Diia Mobile App is the first application in the world that made it possible to use digital IDs (e-passports) with no internal restrictions. The app provides fast and easy access to 16 digitized documents and 25 public services. There’s no more need to carry driver’s licenses, paper or plastic passports, or birth certificates of your children as you have all these documents on your smartphone and they have the same legal force as physical ones.
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Diia Online Portal
Diia Online Portal centralizes more than 70 essential services provided by the Government on one user-friendly platform. There, you can enjoy fast and simple registration of a new business or new house, more than ten services related to the birth of a child, fast tax filing, getting construction permits and different licenses.
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Diia City
Diia City is a unique tax and legal framework for IT businesses. It was created to encourage the development of the IT industry in Ukraine and increase job creation. The companies that are Diia City residents can enjoy a significant reduction in payroll taxes, more flexible employment legislation, ensured protection of intellectual property rights, and more.
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Diia Business
Diia Business is an online portal for small and medium-sized businesses. The portal serves as an invaluable resource of information for beginners and experienced entrepreneurs where they can get a free business consultation, attend free training, and find useful articles on financial management, business automation technologies, etc.
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Diia Education
Diia Education is an online educational platform that incorporates a great variety of online free courses for everyone. Hundreds of educational series: from landscape design to project management, a list of up-to-date vacancies, and the ability to gain new knowledge and skills are only a few clicks away from any person that has an internet connection and is eager to learn.
How is Diia transforming the citizen experience in Ukraine?
E-Democracy
Through the Diia ecosystem, citizens gained the ability to participate in digital voting, submit petitions and sign initiatives online. This online communication between society and the government is a win-win solution. It provides citizens a voice and allows them to directly influence major government decisions and policies, while the government can easily measure public opinion and identify trends.
At DreamProIT, we recognize the immense impact of the Diia project on the creation of a strong and vibrant digital democracy. Our team would be particularly excited about becoming a part of this transformative journey and contributing to the development of Diia, especially in the realm of e-democracy. Being strong believers in the power of collective efforts, we are convinced that our expertise and knowledge can help to enhance the e-democracy features of the platform to strengthen transparency and trust between the government and its citizens.
Convenience and Accessibility
Diia has made it possible to access documents and use a comprehensive suite of government services on the go. Filing taxes, obtaining health-related certificates, paying fines and even applying for a pension can be accomplished without the need to visit governmental offices and wait in lines in person.
Time and Cost Savings
Transitioning services online allows governments to simplify bureaucratic, time-consuming processes, reduce long queues and paperwork, and automate a lot of manual tasks. In the description of each service, you can find information on how long it will take you to fill in the application and how many days it will take to receive the service. This helps to save citizens’ time and reduce overall costs for both parties.
Transparency and Accountability
Diia serves as a transparent and accountable channel where citizens can interact with the government. It makes it easy to access documents and public services, get acquainted with policies and regulations, ask questions or express concerns. This shift towards digital services reduces corruption risks, enhances the quality of public service delivery and makes government agencies more efficient.
Business Support
Diia is aimed to promote entrepreneurship and business development. The portal has shortened the process of becoming an entrepreneur to two minutes while founding a limited liability company will take you only up to half an hour. Now, starting a company and finding useful guides on how to run it effectively is no longer considered to be a headache. This helps the government to enhance economic growth and foster a more favorable environment for businesses and investors.
Digital Education
By acquiring new knowledge and skills, a person has a better chance to make positive contributions to society and future-proof their career. The Diia project aims to make education accessible and free by providing numerous training courses, workshops, and guides to ensure that anyone has the opportunity to learn.
To sum it all up
The Diia ecosystem is an innovative approach to providing online administrative services and ensuring constant communication between the government and society. Its launch marks a significant step towards creating a more people-focused country, free from bureaucracy, corruption, and paper-based processes. The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine aims to transition all services to online platforms by 2024. So, will Ukraine become the first country to hold presidential elections online? We can’t wait to see what the future holds!