Zelensky promotes IT investment and reform in California

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s working visit
to the United States continued on Sept. 2 with meetings in California. Zelensky
met with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and delivered a speech at Stanford University,
presidential website president.gov.ua reported on the same day.

IT figured heavily in both appearances, with Zelensky
pointing to Apple’s growing presence in Ukraine’s IT space, and in both cases,
Ukraine’s development not only in IT as an industry but also as a tool for
governance.

Zelensky emphasized the importance of digitalization
as a path to reform in Ukraine, and that, “The outcome of this reform is a
victory over any medium, petty corruption in the state”, president.gov.ua
quotes.

James Hydzik: If the
Zelensky government has a chance at promoting groundbreaking reform in Ukraine,
it will be with digitalization. It’s something that can be understood by “an
ordinary guy from an ordinary family, from an ordinary – beautiful industrial
city in eastern Ukraine”, as Zelensky described himself when speaking at
Stanford.

Removing small and medium scale corruption while
changing mindsets through an app instead of long-term PR campaigns from NGOs
has an enormous potential, and in the very long run, can foment change at
higher levels. The question remains as to the impact on Ukraine’s external
relations. The Biden administration, for example, is focused more on corruption
at the top, and the technology-induced reform seems to go relatively unnoticed.