On March 19-20, UCORD project representatives, together with pilot RDAs, joined a strategic session organized by the EGAP program. The session was dedicated to discussing the prospects for digital transformation of communities and piloting the idea of creating digital competence centers based on regional development agencies.
In particular, during the meeting, they discussed ways to effectively digitalize regions and determined how Regional Development Agencies could become the driving force of this process.
Here is what Viktor Lyakh, President of the Eastern Europe Foundation, said about this during his opening remarks: “The concepts of economic development and digital transformation of communities are interconnected, as they are united by a common factor – the development of human and social capital. “The RDAs are focused on economic development, and a logical step in strengthening the regions would be to support their digital transformation.”
Today, no one has any questions about why communities need to be digitalized. This is not only a tool for reducing corruption risks and using resources efficiently, but also the key to increasing investment attractiveness, strengthening trust between authorities and citizens, and improving the standard of living in the regions.
Oleksiy Ryabykin, Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine, spoke about the importance of digitalization in his welcoming speech: “Ukraine has become a model for many countries in the direction of digitalization. This speaks of the high intellectual potential of our nation. Digitalization in the regions is impossible without the decentralization reform, which showed its results at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when Ukrainian communities were able to stand firm without waiting for instructions from the center. I support the idea of a single strategy: decentralization is policies, and digitalization is a tool through which these policies are implemented. This is one of the key mechanisms of local democracy,” emphasized Oleksiy Ryabykin.
Senior Program Coordinator of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, Ilona Postemska, emphasized the leadership role of agencies in supporting communities in their development. “We at the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine sincerely believe in decentralization, regional development, and regional development agencies. And we see agencies as platforms that will help strengthen digital transformation at the regional and local levels. “RDAs have the ability to combine the potential of business, public organizations, and other stakeholders, which significantly strengthens their role in the digital transformation of regions,” she noted.
Maryna Bryl, UCORD Project Leader, spoke in her speech about the opportunities that pilot agencies received thanks to UCORD – the only project in Ukraine that systematically supports regional development agencies and contributes to the growth of their institutional capacity. Such opportunities include not only institutional support, but also training in project design, capacity building in strategy development, implementation of regional economic development tools, etc. In her opinion, the prospect of becoming a platform for the implementation of digital tools in communities is another opportunity for RDAs on their path to becoming confident and strong regional development institutions.
“The active participation of the RDA in digital transformation will allow communities to more effectively implement modern technologies, develop and become more competitive,” Maryna Bryl is confident.
The Swiss-Ukrainian project “Cohesion and Regional Development of Ukraine”, UCORD, is implemented with the support of Switzerland via the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation by NIRAS Sweden AB.