Kateryna Chernohorenko
A Ukrainian serviceman uses the internet on his smartphone at a base in the Donetsk region on February 23, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Four years ago, I was managing digital services for newborn registration and COVID certificates in the Ukrainian government. We were building a government in a smartphone. In fact, we were among the first in the world to move so much public administration fully online. Back then, digital transformation was about convenience.
But then Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Suddenly, the stakes were different. Our job was no longer about convenience — it was about survival.
We faced not only an invasion of our territories, but also a war unlike any seen before: where technology, data, and logistics mattered as much as troops and weapons. That’s when we confronted a truth few militaries want to admit: Bureaucracy kills. Not metaphorically. Literally.
Delays aren’t just inefficiencies — they’re casualties. And the tools you use to move information — whether it’s a form, a request, or a call for help — are just as essential as the weapons in your arsenal.
In 2022, it became painfully clear that no amount of courage or firepower could compensate for outdated processes and broken logistics. Paper forms, manual approvals, soldiers waiting weeks to change units, citizens queuing at recruitment offices for hours, just to confirm basic data. We were losing time, and time in war is oxygen.
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