All state services will be digital, paperless by 2021, Zelensky says

President Zelensky told a digital technology summit on
Oct. 5 that he is aiming for government bodies to offer all their services in
digital, paperless format by 2021. This will be the result of the Diya
digitalization program being launched in February, which has enabled the
opening of digital passports, securing of building permits and the registration
of individual entrepreneurs, among other online services now available. More
than 5 mln Ukrainians have used the Diya mobile app as part of the State in a
Smartphone program, which Zelensky characterized as the start of a new reality.

“One hundred percent of services will be online, while
bureaucracy and corruption will become atypical phenomena,” he told a
presentation of the latest developments of the Diya program. He added, “No
state institution will be able to demand from Ukrainians any certificates,
extracts or other endless papers necessary for receiving these or other state
services.”

Zenon Zawada: The digitalization of Ukraine’s government bodies is likely to become
among the leading legacies of the Zelensky administration. Zelensky is
vigorously pursuing this campaign because it is something almost every can
agree upon, with little political costs. Digitalization also stands to be
Zelensky’s top accomplishment in the fight against corruption, reducing the
ability of bureaucrats to extract bribes. But obviously, decisions to open and
investigate criminal cases, as well as issue court rulings, can’t be digitized
(at least not yet). And that’s where much of Ukraine’s problems lie.