Strengths of Diia and the eRecovery Program

“Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov was showing me photos of his neighborhood, which was bombed overnight and showing photos of the damage to the roof. Well, first of all, that’s harrowing and brutal, and the Russians have to be held accountable for these crimes, one. Two, somebody will be going and snapping a picture of the damage to their roof, uploading it into the app, and at some point getting back an estimate of what the damage is. And at some point, actually, restitution for that damage will come via the government to the citizen. It’s just mind blowing how, in real time, how useful this is…”
—Samantha Power, USAID Administrator, Remarks, May 23, 2023

Ukraine’s accelerated digital transformation strategy and early investments in public digitization efforts are the main drivers of the functionality of the eRecovery program. Iterative development and human-centered design are essential components of effective government service delivery. These foundational approaches coalesced around the provision of public services and led to the world’s original digital-first compensation process for property damaged or destroyed by conflict.

Diia has the potential to transform post-conflict property compensation and restitution in the following ways.

Physical safety and accessibility for both claimants and administrators

Diia’s property damage portal allows victims of property damage or destruction to file claims digitally. This is in stark contrast to other post-conflict or post-disaster scenarios, in which intake for a property compensation program is primarily conducted in the field, by a legal aid organization or by government workers. Usually, claimants need to bring physical copies of necessary documents and wait in line to file a claim with an official.

By contrast, Diia allows displaced persons and refugees to file a claim while far away from their home. The process facilitates access for anyone who cannot physically travel to an intake location, such as those who are older, sick, injured, or disabled. Critically, allowing claims to be lodged from afar permits the property compensation process to begin before hostilities end.

Diia largely removes the government’s need to set up brick-and-mortar intake locations in active war zones, removing the danger of combatants targeting these centers and also making sensitive property documents less vulnerable to damage or loss.

Once a compensation claim is approved, funds are allocated through an electronic bank card. The electronic banking solution, part of the eRecovery program, also improves accessibility and physical security risks for claimants.

Immediacy of preserving evidence and processing claims

Diia allows Ukrainian citizens to file compensation claims in the hours or days immediately after a property has been damaged or destroyed. Conceivably, Diia also provides an opportunity for the government to track geo-located and validated damage. This real-time capability means that claims are processed efficiently. It presents key advantages over traditional post-conflict compensation schemes by minimizing the risks that documentary evidence necessary to process a compensation claim is lost or destroyed before claimants can present it. It assists the government to administer a program to provide compensation even as the war rages on.

Transparency, security, and multipurpose data

The broader security ecosystem that Diia operates in is equally significant to the efficiencies of administering a digital reconstruction and recovery program. The Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, told a packed room at the Diia in DC event in May 2023 that cybersecurity has been a top priority from the beginning. Ukrainians have to trust the system to use it, especially at a time marked by heightened cyber threats. The resilience of Diia, and the ability to withstand aggressive cyberattacks from Russia, assures users of the safety of their data as well as instilling a sense of national pride in Ukrainian innovation and IT services.

Ukraine and the teams supporting the administration and governance of Diia have coordinated political, financial, and material support from global partners to reinforce and strengthen their cybersecurity measures. They also have worked toward decreasing the likelihood of forged documents or claims. These risks can be minimized by using pre-conflict data and an ongoing commitment to encryption and cybersecurity measures, allowing for extensive and trusted use of verified data. Digital submission of a photo documenting loss alone is insufficient; that proof needs to be verified. In addition to property claims, the digital records submitted via Diia can serve multiple purposes beyond the immediate need for compensation.

If Ukrainian authorities are confident that digital records submitted through Diia are authentic and accurate, and if Diia maintains the proper privacy and security measures to safeguard these documents, the authorities can use these records to inform reconstruction and urban development plans and in legal proceedings related to the potential for post-war property disputes. Potentially accessible records that could help confirm data and claims include property tax assessments, collections and appraisals, utility delivery, real estate and land markets, and land use planning. This digital data collection can serve future initiatives in Ukraine, and, ideally, data integration with existing registries will be something administrators can continue to strengthen in future system iterations.

Trust

Many Ukrainians used Diia prior to the war, and use of Ukraine’s e-government services has continued to grow during the war. This familiarity with Diia has been a crucial factor in its successful scaling during the war. A pre-conflict understanding of the system has created a level of trust and comfort in Diia that is invaluable, especially in times of crisis. The government’s active role in championing and promoting Diia has reinforced this trust, ensuring that users feel confident in the system’s ability to deliver public services.

When a system is already known and used by a population, scaling to include additional services, such as property compensation, becomes seamless and efficient. This ability to scale digital-first systems reduces the prevalence and friction of in-person interaction points that can be known to be prone to bribes and other forms of corruption.

Technology specialists and digital rights defenders continue to call on the Government of Ukraine to actively manage the risks that e-government and digital identification technology could pose. Transparency in response to these concerns is foundational to system integrity as problems on this front could potentially undermine the public’s trust in the government. Additionally, international efforts, such as the eGovernance Academy’s focus on the improvement of the efficiency and security of public service delivery associated with Diia in line with European Union standards, will help strengthen understanding and overall trust of the system of architecture.

Rapid adaptability by responsive institutions

After the outbreak of the invasion, Diia administrators quickly integrated additional e-government services tailored to the immediate needs of the population, such as access to social benefits and war-related information. The rapid adaptation of Diia post-invasion is reflected in the eRecovery portal’s swift response to changing needs, demonstrating the importance of adaptability in digital platforms during crises. Given that this adaptation was done at a time of crisis, it is hard to track down how much user input informed the scaling process. To date, it appears to respond to user needs by assessing available usage data and growth in services offered through Diia. The invasion didn’t mark the first time Diia was adapted to meet the needs of users; it was adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic to add vaccination records. As the crisis with Russia continues to evolve, and with it the needs of the end users, the system must remain adaptable.

One of the reasons Ukraine has been able to quickly adapt to shifting needs is the interoperability platform Trembita, which is at the core of Diia. Trembita, originally developed in Estonia and scaled for Ukraine, facilitates secure data exchange in Diia among diverse governmental data sources. By adopting standardized data formats and protocols, Diia can link disparate systems and enable real-time, efficient data sharing. Ukraine’s approach to future-proofing digital services—anticipating and developing methods of minimizing the effects of shocks and stresses of future events—aligns with the eRecovery portal’s design, ensuring that it can adapt and respond efficiently to potential reconstruction opportunities and challenges.