DIGITALIZATION PROCESS IN UKRAINE AS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE SMART CITY CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The paper aims to review Smart city building process in Ukraine, its successful examples, and possible drawbacks on the way and based on this suggests the steps country should undertake for the future development of this concept. Taking into account that spreading of ICTs (digitalization) plays an important role in laying the foundation for smart solutions’ development and usage, we have also provided an overview of this process in Ukraine and compared Ukraine’s positions on the global arena. To do this, we have used a number of international indexes (ICT Development Index, Networked Readiness Index, Global Innovation Index, E-Government Development Index, E-Participation Index) to show an objective picture and to cover as many aspects as possible (ICT readiness, ICT usage, ICT skills, and other features build on top of these). Lack of the required infrastructure and equal proper access to ICTs within the country is one of the major issues Ukraine has to deal with right now. We have also compared current positions of Ukraine against the target values specified in the Strategy of Information Society Development of Ukraine-2020. The research is based on the method of theoretical, logical, and systematic analysis of the literature (articles, strategies and agendas, international indexes etc.) along with the methods of comparative analysis that allow comparing smart solutions among the selected cities. We have composed a comparison table for successful smart solutions available currently in Ukraine for the selected cities (Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Dnipro) within different areas. We have also conducted a SWOT-analysis to reveal strong and weak points for the further concept development, as well as the possible consequences and risks. The article suggests the steps for further successful development of smart city concept in Ukraine. These steps should encourage the dialogue on the topic within our country. We believe that cooperation of all stakeholders on the national level is necessary to 1) Establish a common platform for sharing best practices and spreading successful solutions faster; 2) Develop a measurement tool to compare both the progress among different cities and the progress for the specific city within some time period. While locally each city should work on its own Smart City Agenda and Roadmap, ensuring the interests of all groups is taken into account. But of course, active dialogue on both city and national levels, as well as within the axis Government – Industry – University – Civil Society is a core component of smart city building process.