Each cities strives to provide residents with fast and convenient services. The path to innovation is much easier to overcome together, using proven tools. The Ministry of Digital Affairs gathered more than 180 community representatives in Lviv at the Digital Leaders Forum. Participants exchanged experiences for scaling electronic services in each region of the country.
Meetings, discussions and best examples of digitalization
During September 21 and 22, 2026 experts discussed real problems and sought effective solutions for faster launch of digital projects. Forum participants discussed the development of public services in the context of decentralization and found formats for effective interaction between regional CDTOs and digital leaders.
A digital state works when services are equally fast and transparent at all levels — communities, regions, central government. It is important for us to solve problems and overcome challenges on the ground systematically, so that communities do not look for solutions individually, but have the necessary tools. This forum has become another confirmation of the important role played by the professional community of CDTO and digital community leaders, – Oleksandr Zakusylo, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation
Digital leaders also presented the best cases of implementing innovations in conditions of limited resources and established interaction to learn from the most successful experiences of colleagues.
Switzerland has consistently supported key reforms in Ukraine, and digitalization is one of the most successful of them. For the Eastern Europe Foundation, digital transformation is a long-term effort to ensure that the state, communities and people can effectively use digital opportunities. We systematically support the establishment of the CDTO institute, the development of digital leaders, team building and institutional capacity, – Vera Nedzvedska, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at the Eastern Europe Foundation.
Vision and tools from leaders
The talks were joined by the heads and deputies of the RSA, representatives of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Verkhovna Rada. They had a frank conversation about effective interaction with each other, and also handed over new practical tools to the communities:
- First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Kornienko emphasized the importance of digitalization for effective, transparent and sustainable local self-government in the context of decentralization;
- Minister of Digital Transformation Oksana Ferchuk presented the department’s priorities and spoke about the importance of regional digitalization and the contribution of communities to the country’s sustainability;
- Vice President of the Eastern Europe Foundation, Vira Nedzvedska, emphasized the importance of partnership and interaction between the state, regions, and communities as partners for the systematic implementation of changes on the ground;
- Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr Zakusylo presented an open-source solution for working with open data in communities;
- Chief AI Officer Roman Kysly spoke about the Ministry of Digital Affairs’ direction in the development of AI and demonstrated an ecosystem of products based on artificial intelligence to automate the routine of officials;
- Regional Digitalization Coordinator of the EGAP Program Serhiy Hunko presented an application for community residents, built on the best practices of the Smart City App, but adapted for all types of Ukrainian communities. It combines all the capabilities, functions and integrations of the SVOI and E-DEM tool ecosystem and will be available as a powerful free tool for all communities in Ukraine in November.
At the end of the forum, the Ministry of Digital Affairs awarded special awards to communities with the highest achievements in digitalization – for electronic document management in communities, for improving the quality and accessibility of administrative services in ASCs, for progress in working with address data, for successful digital adaptation of veterans and senior community residents, etc.
The event was held with the support of the Swiss-Ukrainian program EGAP, implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation.
EGAP Action
We develop strategies and train specialists in digital security and working with electronic services and we offer digital literacy trainings for citizens.
We have three components in our work: Electronic services, electronic democracy and regional digitization.
We provide targeted support to 86 pilot communities which were selected on a competitive basis in 6 target regions — Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Odesa, Sumy, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv. We conduct audits, draw up digitization plans and implement tools to improve interaction with citizens.
During the Russian aggression in Ukraine, we help communities adapt to new challenges, support forcibly displaced persons and cooperate with national partners to create digital solutions for the security and protection of the rights of Ukrainians.
Sustainable partnership and joint initiatives with state and local authorities are the foundation of our work. Together, we will be able to turn the state into a convenient service and make citizens true participants in decision-making.
