Diya mobile app launched in State in a SmartPhone initiative

The Zelensky administration launched on Feb. 6 the Diya mobile application to implement the widespread digitalization of state institutions, especially in their interaction with citizens. Ukraine is only the third European country to offer its citizens such a mobile application, Zelensky said at the initiative’s presentation, stressing that no state funds were spent to develop it. “The state should be for people simply a service – convenient, simple and understandable,” Zelensky said. “On the whole, our goal is to ensure that a person can engage in all relations with the state with the help of a SmartPhone and the Internet. That includes voting at the presidential, parliamentary and local elections.”

The launch of Diya marks the start of the government’s State in a SmartPhone initiative, PM Oleksiy Honcharuk said at the same presentation, having set the goal of digitalizing all state services in three years. Meanwhile, 50 of the most demanded state services will be offered by the year end, he said. About 3.5 million Ukrainians use online services (or 9% of the public), which the government is aiming to boost to 10 million by the end of 2020.

Diya was made available the same day through Google Play and Apple Store. As a result, driver’s licenses, vehicle registration cards and auto insurance policies can be accessed and used on SmartPhones, Zelensky said. By the year end, Ukrainians will have access to digital internal passports, which serve as ID cards. Foreign passports will also soon be available, as well as student ID cards, he said. Other targeted services are registering small business, as well as permits for builders and transporters.

Zenon Zawada: Among the Zelensky administration’s most important legacies are its digitalization efforts, which would not be happening if former President Poroshenko were re-elected. The initiative is especially important in Ukraine, where state offices are often understaffed, staffed by Soviet-era bureaucrats, plagued by long lines and are inconvenient for entrepreneurs on the whole. Digitalization will also go a long way in combating bribery and corruption, which is the second-highest expectation that Ukrainian voters have of Zelensky (after resolving the war in Donbas).