Ukraine's GovTech sector is developing and structuring. At the end of last year, Kitsoft, along with four leading IT companies developing digital solutions for the government, joined forces to form the GovTech Alliance of Ukraine (GTA UA).
In an interview with DOU, Kitsoft CEO Oleksandr Iefremov and other members of the GovTech Alliance of Ukraine (GTA UA) covered the challenges of working in GovTech, the prospects for exporting Ukrainian digital solutions, what motivates IT professionals to work with the state, and what salaries they can expect. We are publishing a translation of the main points from this conversation.
Why GTA UA was created
The GovTech Alliance of Ukraine will represent the common interests of the sector, not individual companies. It will promote international cooperation, open up opportunities for dialogue with governments and other IT communities. For example, in Europe, such partnerships between the state and GovTech unions are very popular, especially when there is a need to pilot new technology or train people.
By combining their efforts and expertise, GTA UA members aim to create new strategies and participate in legislative changes.
Among other priority areas of the Alliance:
— export of Ukrainian GovTech solutions;
— joint communication on the digitalization of public services;
— exchange of resources, experience, and development of the GovTech market.
Average salaries in GovTech
Most government institutions lack IT professionals, so the GovTech sector is actively hiring. For example, DOU has 90 vacancies in the GovTech category.
Private IT companies offer average market salaries. Donor teams focus on a ceiling that does not depend on the experience of the specialist, so average salaries are lower than the market. The worst situation is with salaries in the civil service, where the average salary is $1,000, but there are exceptions to the rule.
In state-owned enterprises, salaries depend on how they are approved by the ministries. On average, they are better than in the civil service, but lower than in donor teams.
For example, a Senior Business Analyst can receive $3-3.5 thousand per month in a private company, $2.5 thousand in a donor team, $1.8-2 thousand in a state-owned enterprise, and about $1 thousand in the civil service.
Challenges in working with the government
Among the main challenges, GTA UA participants name a heavy workload, which can be difficult to predict.
The issue of cybersecurity is extremely important. According to Oleksandr Yefremov, government agencies should add cyber specialists at every stage of product development and constantly analyze risks, as well as introduce Zero Trust. This is an approach where system components do not have to trust each other, and any element of the system is considered broken during design.
However, since the state system is being reformed quite difficult, the responsibility for cybersecurity control must be assumed by the customer and developers.
Thus, before the full-scale intrusion began in January, cyberattacks affected Kitsoft's infrastructure. Since then, the team has been paying even more attention to cybersecurity, even without a constant request from all customers. Kitsoft is currently undergoing ISO 27001 certification, setting up internal processes, and helping customers improve their cybersecurity.
Other challenges of working in GovTech include inaccuracies in data, including discrepancies between paper and digital documents, and bureaucratic difficulties, such as:
— unpredictable project timelines;
— a large amount of paperwork;
— thorough testing of GovTech products before launch.
We have to understand that the state is a pretty conservative structure. We have faced a rather picky and long process of accepting and testing products. But in fact, if you are prepared, confidently demonstrate your decisions and defend your own opinion, it is possible to achieve results even when working with government agencies.
— explains Kitsoft CEO Oleksandr Iefremov.
How to create convenient services
GTA UA participants said that the customer is not always the initiator of user research. Sometimes this task is taken on by contractors looking for ways to create a convenient service for end users.
Donors are also concerned about user needs. For example, the UNDP project, which funds some of the projects of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, insists that all products they fund be inclusive according to WCAG standards.
At Kitsoft, all of the company's products undergo beta testing after approval by the customer. During this process, users give their comments and suggestions, and the product is then finalized. Therefore, it can change significantly from idea to production. If there is a request, the product can be improved even after it is implemented. This was the case with the electronic reservation service developed by the Kitsoft team.
Initially, management could book their employees in a matter of minutes. However, then users of the service began to abuse it, so the time for booking confirmation was increased to 72 hours. It was quick to do thanks to the flexibility of the technology.
And when they noticed that some companies booked a lot of employees, Kitsoft added the ability to import/export from spreadsheets. This speeded up the process of filling out applications.
International prospects of Ukrainian GovTech
Despite all the challenges, IT people choose to work in GovTech because it is an opportunity to work on interesting and socially important projects. And also to directly contribute to reforms and make life easier for Ukrainians.
Ukrainian digital solutions have great potential for scaling outside of Ukraine. For example, Kitsoft has launched a partner training certification program on its own low-code platform Liquio. This will allow partner companies to learn and develop their own solutions on the platform.
Kitsoft is also already opening a representative office in Germany and piloting projects for the digitalization of cities together with partners. In addition, it is setting up a representative office in Belgium to implement a pilot project to simplify business registration.
Starting a business in Belgium is much more difficult in terms of bureaucracy than in Ukraine. Our task is to simplify and reduce the cost of this process. We believe that Ukraine can be a model for the rapid modernization of public services.
— noted Oleksandr Iefremov.
The company is also working on improving cybersecurity, spreading inclusive standards in the company's products, and implementing AI to help developers create services on the Liquio platform faster.
Oleksandr Iefremov and other IT experts discussed how AI will affect business, government, and education and what changes to expect in 2025 in the SPEKA article.
Also, an international fund USAID has suspended funding, including GovTech projects. This somewhat slows down the market growth, but does not radically change the direction of development.