All identity and other certificates always with you, electronically in your pocket. All government services in one place – and you don’t have to log in to each agency’s online service separately. All you have to do is show your face on your cell phone.
Sounds like a dream, right? But it has been true in Ukraine for almost three years. This is made possible by the government application and online service Dija (you switch to another service).
Dija is part of the Electronic State program piloted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in 2019. The name Dija is an abbreviation of the words “Deržava i ja” or “The State and I”. In Ukrainian, the word dija means action or action.
Kyivan Julia Ovcharenko, 28, has been using Dija since its inception. He is delighted with its ease and user-friendliness.
– Ukrainians are an intelligent bunch, they appreciate good products. Dija is made in such a way that it is easy to get used to it. I’ve taught my mom to log in there, it even works on old phone models. I am very happy that we have Dija, she inspires me.
From driver’s license to citizen surveys
Ovcharenko is a startup entrepreneur. Together with his team, he has developed an application called ADHD Numo, which helps people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) learn important skills such as concentration.
– I take care of everything through Dija. I used to register my company through it, now I pay taxes in it. Dija has my tax card, driver’s license and all my IDs. I haven’t carried my physical passport with me for a long time, Ovcharenko says.
Some certificates, which are valid for a limited time, are not ready in the application, but you have to apply for them. Such is, for example, a residence certificate, which appears in the application within 24 hours.
– If my life situation changes, Dija will need new documents, for example a marriage certificate or a child’s birth certificate.
During the war, Ovcharenko got a car and proved how easy it is to handle all related bureaucratic issues through Dija.
– I took care of the car registration at Dija. All taxes and fees, even parking fines, go there as well.
Several dozens of services are available in Dija. Among them are citizen surveys about current issues in society. They were added a year ago.
Ukrainians have been asked, for example, which day should celebrate Christmas, whether general possession of weapons should be allowed in Ukraine, who should represent Ukraine in this year’s Eurovision, or which stamp issued during the war is the most beautiful.
Based on Uber, Airbnb and Booking
The Dija project was led by the Ministry of Digital Transition and its director Myhailo Fedorov32. In 2015, he founded a company that ran advertising campaigns on social media.
In 2019, at the age of 28, Fedorov was in charge of digital marketing for Zelensky’s election campaign, and after the election, he was appointed a minister. Since then, he has been implementing a project whose goal is to bring all government services to every Ukrainian’s cell phone before 2024.
– When we started building the Dija application, we used the services of the private sector as a basis rather than the experience of other countries. Examples were Uber, Airbnb, Booking, etc. We studied how the business sector affects users and the user experience, says Fedorov.
According to data from January, Dija already has more than 18 million users, or about half of Ukraine’s population. During the war, this number increased by 20 percent.
According to Fedorov, digital services make everyday and business life easier for citizens, but also help the state save costs and fight corruption. The ministry preliminarily estimates that last year the collective savings were around one billion euros.
– People don’t have time to travel or collect papers. For example, in the construction industry, we have automated all processes and we continue to work in that field to get rid of all cases of corruption.
The project required getting used to from the public administration, but nowadays all new projects in different agencies and ministries are immediately proposed to be added to Dija, says Fedorov.
– The most recent example is the lamp replacement campaign. You can submit an application through Dija, and when you take the old light bulbs to the post office, you will get new energy-saving light bulbs instead, says Fedorov.
“There is nothing to steal in Dija”
Julia Ovtcharenko says that she has a high level of trust in Dija, for example in matters of information security.
– I’m sure that social media platforms have much more information about us than you can dig up about Dija.
This is confirmed by Minister Fedorov.
– Dija does not store data itself, but everything happens in its own registers. Dija is just a platform that connects all these registries. There is nothing to steal in the service itself.
Still, just in case, every year the ministry hires ethical hackers to find weak points in the service. But there are plenty of other types of hackers as well.
– In addition to the usual war, we have the world’s first cyber war going on, in my opinion. We have registered more than 2,000 cyber attacks, but not a single data leak. We add new services every week, so our experience shows that you can live in the middle of the biggest war in 80 years and build an electronic state at the same time.
According to Fedorov, the war only accelerates digitalization in the same way as the corona pandemic once did.
– Through Dija, we receive information about the enemy’s movements or the concentration of Russian soldiers and pass this information on to the defense forces. In the application, you can report damage to your property due to the war, and internal migrants can quickly receive various subsidies. During the war, digitization has ensured that all state administrative bodies have remained upright and functional.
Europe has something to learn from Ukraine in digital issues
In Julia Ovcharenko’s opinion, Dijaan could add the possibility of electronic voting in elections. At the same time, he would raise the level of surveys and organize full-scale referendums in Dija.
– After all, I am in the service as a verified Ukrainian citizen.
According to Minister Fedorov, this is not allowed for now.
– Electronic voting is not in the works, but over time Dija will have all state services. But we aim for the state to provide only necessary services, and all the services left as a legacy of the bureaucracy would remain completely in history.
Fedorov says that in addition to Dija, the Digital Ministry has other important projects in the reconstruction phase of Ukraine.
– We must build 5G networks, e-economy and e-education. We would like to develop the telecommunications industry, and Finland has a lot of experience in that, says Fedorov.
In January, at the Davos Economic Forum, the Minister of Transport and Communications Timo Magpie (SDP) and Myhailo Fedorov agreed on cooperation between Finland and Ukraine to promote digitalization. In addition to this, Fedorov met Nokia’s management in Switzerland. The Finnish company promised to deliver routers to Ukrainian schools and shelters, and to provide consulting assistance in the reconstruction of the telecommunications industry.
Ovcharenko is sure that Ukraine has a lot to offer Europe in terms of digitalization.
– If a service like Dija came to European countries, for example Germany, people would be much happier. Why wait in line at an office or bank, if everything can be done right away via your mobile phone?
There are already examples of this: A month ago in Estonia introduced (you will switch to another service) government service application mRiik. It is based on the Ukrainian Dija.