Kitsoft, with the support of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has launched Code the State — a podcast series exploring how governments create online public services and build digital public infrastructure. The podcast brings together practitioners, public officials, and innovators implementing IT solutions in the public sector worldwide.
The first episode is already available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. The podcast is released in English.
About the podcast
Code the State explores the real side of digital transformation — technological solutions, governance trade-offs, failed projects, and real breakthroughs. Each episode is built around a specific story or case: what worked, what didn’t, and why.
In the episodes:
- real digitalization cases
- hands-on experience in launching services
- mistakes and challenges governments face
- approaches that enable scaling solutions
- the future of the digital state: the role of AI, agents, digital identity, and platform approaches to public services
The podcast explains complex GovTech topics in simple terms and shows how to apply this knowledge in practice.
The host is Olena Uvarenko, International Program Lead at Kitsoft. The podcast will be relevant for those working in public digital teams or international organizations, building GovTech products, advising governments — or anyone who wants to understand how digital transformation actually happens.
Launch episode: Ukraine and Europe — approaches to digitalization
This episode opens the podcast and focuses on how the digital state is evolving in Europe and Ukraine.
Guests:
- Daniel Korski — Danish entrepreneur, investor, former advisor to the UK Prime Minister, co-founder of PUBLIC, and one of the pioneers of GovTech in Europe
- Oleksandr Iefremov — CEO of Kitsoft, whose team created the Diia platform used by millions of Ukrainians
In the conversation:
- Why public institutions avoid risk — and how this slows down digital transformation
- How to build digital services trusted by millions
- Why some countries transform while others do not
- What truly drives digital breakthroughs — politics or technology
- Why crises make governments more effective
- How artificial intelligence will reshape public services — and where its limits lie
“The main barrier is the culture of risk aversion in bureaucracy. When people don’t understand technology, their natural response is to fear and avoid it,” — Daniel Korski.
“Governments should stop thinking in procedures and start thinking in services people actually rely on,” — Oleksandr Iefremov.
Season one: Women in GovTech
The first season of Code the State is dedicated to the Women in GovTech Challenge 2026 — a global initiative where women from 85 countries develop prototypes of digital public services. Participants learn to prototype on Liquio — a low-code platform with an open-source version for public service digitalization, developed by the Kitsoft team.
The season features conversations with challenge participants, mentors, and international experts from UNDP, the World Bank, GIZ, and EY — thought leaders and professionals in digital governance, cybersecurity, and public infrastructure development.
“In the digital transformation of states, there are still too few proven solutions. Code the State gives listeners a chance to hear from people who are actually changing systems and understand how to scale this experience. If you’ve been looking for reliable insights in digitalization, I invite you to listen to the first episode and draw your own conclusions,” — says the podcast host Olena Uvarenko.
Learn more about the podcast and upcoming episodes on the Code the State page.