AI at the heart of Ukraine’s future
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine has launched the WINWIN AI Centre of Excellence
Digital services to help rebuild a nation
As Generative AI (GenAI) evolves, governments are recognising its potential to transform government and help empower citizens with the highly efficient and personalised public services of the future.
Ukraine’s government is no exception and, with the support of collaborators, is embracing the potential of AI.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT) of Ukraine has now launched the new WINWIN AI Centre of Excellence, as part of implementing the WINWIN Ukrainian Global Innovation Strategy by 2030.
A team from Deloitte UK had the opportunity to work with Ukrainian and Estonian government leaders on behalf of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) to enhance the adoption of AI across the country’s economy, including digital public services.
Cutting-edge public services enhanced by AI
Ukraine already has an impressive record in digitalisation.
Its Diia portal and app is a great example, providing over 22.7 million users with access to 30 digital personal documents and over 165 public services.
This includes the world’s first digital passport and a service designed to open the way for entrepreneurship by supporting one of the world's fastest business registration processes.
Another example is Mriia, Ukraine’s state educational ecosystem for students, parents, and educators, which inspires learning through a modernised approach to education, aimed at granting equal access during wartime and beyond.
So, it’s unsurprising that Ukraine also wants to achieve AI excellence.
It aims to rank among the world’s top three countries for AI solution integration and implementation by 2030, a goal now supported by the WINWIN AI Centre of Excellence.
Together with partners, the MDT’s team is currently working on a strategy for the development of AI in Ukraine, from supporting talent to the integration of AI into the public sector.
The new centre is an innovative space for analysing, developing and testing AI solutions as well as integrating the latest in AI into key sectors, including healthcare, science and law and sourcing use cases for more efficient national and regional government.
Its diverse range of activities will enable Ukraine’s continued adoption of emerging technology and include integrating AI into platforms like Diia and Mriia. An AI assistant on the Diia portal is set to be Ukraine’s first AI product for use by Ukrainian citizens nationwide.
Just six months after opening, it has a range of products and solutions in development, designed to optimise Ukrainian government services.
Another exciting project underway at the centre is building the first Ukrainian large language model (LLM), to provide the basis for a range of AI solutions in public administration and make public services even faster and more convenient for Ukrainian citizens.
We remain inspired by our Ukrainian colleagues. They face so many challenges in their daily lives but continue to work with incredible resilience.
Jonathan Pell, Partner, Deloitte
A collaboration for tech advancement
Against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, sharing learning through trusted, resilient international collaborators is also essential to Europe’s future.
In 2024, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a historic 100-year partnership. The partnership aims to deepen ties and strengthen solidarity between the two nations and includes a commitment to advancing technology together.
“There’s so much value in collaboration that enables nations to share learning and exchange skills,” says Jonathan Pell, a Deloitte UK Consulting partner and UK lead partner for international affairs and development.
“We can see that the AI tools empowering Ukraine's Centre of Excellence hold potential for transforming government ways of working and public services, not just in Ukraine but also in the UK and beyond.”
From vision to reality
To support Ukraine’s launch of the centre, Deloitte UK worked with the FCDO to bring together a multidisciplinary team, drawing upon experience and leading practices from projects shaped around the world, including the UK government’s own dynamic Incubator for AI.
AI specialists from Deloitte's UK AI Institute supported the governance and design processes that are important to the centre’s long-term success. Alongside them, experts in human capital and enterprise transformation supported the centre’s organisational design, capabilities and people-focused processes.
“The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine set a clear overall vision and strategy – and an ambitious timetable,” Jonathan continues.
“Deloitte UK then brought practitioner experience of rapidly standing up new organisations, adapting our team throughout to meet their specific needs.”
For Jonathan and the Deloitte UK team, working with Ukrainian counterparts was a unique and rewarding experience. It was a privilege to support colleagues and Ukrainian citizens who have endured so much.
“Working with the government of Ukraine requires speed and agility. The team there was determined to deliver something extraordinary, in challenging circumstances.”
“We remain inspired by the resilience of our Ukrainian colleagues. They face so many challenges in their daily lives but continue to work with incredible resilience.”
With the centre now becoming an established part of the digital landscape in Ukraine, the hope is that its transformational potential helps drive a better future for international relationships and the Ukrainian people.
