Ukrainians Partner with Estonia to Build e-Democracy

As a result of the cooperation initiative the participants hope to adapt the Estonian models of e-governance to the local municipalities in Ukraine, and increase government transparency through the use of ICT in public administration.

Among the various electronic tools presented during the study visit, the guests most appreciated the electronic platform of urban planning and management used in Estonian local municipalities. Besides the benefit of optimizing bureaucratic procedures, Ukrainians also see e-governance as an effective tool to cut corruption and increase the transparency of public decision-making processes.

Despite the recent interest in e-governance on the local level, the process of building e-democracy in Ukraine faces several challenges from a weak administrative capacity to low levels of internet users. The proportion of the population regularly using the internet is estimated to be only around 30%.

The project initiated by the Agency for Development of Private Initiative (Ivano-Frankivsk) is carried out with the financial support of the East-East: Partnership Beyond Borders Program of the International Renaissance Foundation and the Open Estonia Foundation.