Ukraine wants to turn its wartime expertise in military technology and digital innovation into sharply higher high-tech exports in the coming years, including in sectors powered by artificial intelligence, the country's minister for digital transformation told Reuters on Tuesday.
Oksana Ferchuk said Ukraine was exploring cooperation agreements with the United States, other countries and international institutions, drawing on its experience of keeping digital services running through five years of war against Russia's invasion.
Digital Services That Survived the War
Ferchuk, who travelled to Washington this week to meet US economic, cybersecurity and telecommunications officials as well as senior leaders at the World Bank, said Ukraine had digitised state services at remarkable speed during the conflict and was ready to advise other countries on how it was done.
She said Ukraine was moving data centres and infrastructure underground after Russian strikes on such facilities increased in recent months. Dozens of telecom and data centre locations have been destroyed, she acknowledged, but digital services were still running thanks to redundancies in locations and cloud providers. "The digital services are alive and running, and this is a result of our tremendous efforts to achieve this resilience," she said.
From Battlefield Tech to Civilian Use
Ukraine has become a testing ground for the newest weaponry during the war, and Ferchuk said the country was already helping other countries build drone defences. She argued that cheaper products and quicker innovation had allowed Kyiv to disrupt the slower-moving global military technology sector, and that military technologies could now accelerate development in civilian high-tech sectors with the right regulation.
Ferchuk, who previously oversaw digital transformation at the defence ministry, said World Bank officials she had met in Kyiv were keenly interested in Ukraine's digital tools for education, telecommunications and social services, with further discussions planned in Washington this week.
Sources: Ukraine sets its sights on boosting high-tech exports, hails digital resilience — Reuters
Oksana Ferchuk said Ukraine was exploring cooperation agreements with the United States, other countries and international institutions, drawing on its experience of keeping digital services running through five years of war against Russia's invasion.
Digital Services That Survived the War
Ferchuk, who travelled to Washington this week to meet US economic, cybersecurity and telecommunications officials as well as senior leaders at the World Bank, said Ukraine had digitised state services at remarkable speed during the conflict and was ready to advise other countries on how it was done.
She said Ukraine was moving data centres and infrastructure underground after Russian strikes on such facilities increased in recent months. Dozens of telecom and data centre locations have been destroyed, she acknowledged, but digital services were still running thanks to redundancies in locations and cloud providers. "The digital services are alive and running, and this is a result of our tremendous efforts to achieve this resilience," she said.
From Battlefield Tech to Civilian Use
Ukraine has become a testing ground for the newest weaponry during the war, and Ferchuk said the country was already helping other countries build drone defences. She argued that cheaper products and quicker innovation had allowed Kyiv to disrupt the slower-moving global military technology sector, and that military technologies could now accelerate development in civilian high-tech sectors with the right regulation.
Ferchuk, who previously oversaw digital transformation at the defence ministry, said World Bank officials she had met in Kyiv were keenly interested in Ukraine's digital tools for education, telecommunications and social services, with further discussions planned in Washington this week.
Sources: Ukraine sets its sights on boosting high-tech exports, hails digital resilience — Reuters
