The state in Vladimir Zelensky's smartphone: prospects, problems, challenges

One of the most famous points of Zelensky's pre-election program was the transition of public services "to a smartphone". That is, all government services via the Internet, minimal communication with officials. Pressed the button — received a certificate/registration.

Apparently, this issue really worries Vladimir Alexandrovych, since the "State in a smartphone" did not disappear from the political agenda after the elections. Izveztny otvetstvennye za development face. News on the topic is generated, occurs meeting, consultation, interview Ukrainians.

It should be noted right away that the development vector is correct. Not only because Ukraine is moving into the metamodern, and the state apparatus is forced to yield to society. There are more prosaic reasons. Huge social tension in society requires letting out the accumulated steam. Removing annoying queues in endless offices is a good tactical move.

In addition, Ukraine is a poor country, and it would really be nice to cut government spending. In this sense, replacing the army of budget workers with a "computer" can also be useful.

In general, the stars, as they say, aligned. Time will form the horoscope of the upcoming reform.

What was before

Zelensky begins the digitization of Ukraine far from zero. It has been done over the past five years quite a few in order for state electronic services to appear in Ukraine. After the Revolution of Dignity, we saw the launch of many different electronic services, Telegram bots, the opening of registries and the simplification of procedures. This can be verified by going to news sitesby iGov or simply to the website of your city. The work done is colossal, so Vladimir Aleksandrovich has something to lean on.

Another issue is that the previous government did everything half-heartedly and often unsystematically. Therefore, state electronic services are scattered on different sites, and people have no idea what services can now be obtained via the Internet. There is a lot of useful information on iGov, but, again, do many Ukrainians know about the existence of this site? Again, the very nature of the already implemented electronic services does not eliminate the need to "run around the offices", but only simplifies this tedious task.

Ukraine is now stuck in the middle of the road. There are serious achievements, but there is a lot of work ahead. We need a more detailed inventory of what has already been done in the field of electronic services, systematization and further development of the digital state.

What exactly do they want from Zelensky

The first steps show that the situation with electronic services is adequately assessed in the president's office. This is said, in particular, by the Presidential Decree "About some measures to improve the access of individuals and legal entities to electronic services". The most important thing in it is the audit of registers. They will check a lot food for thought, and, most importantly, they will allow the president's team to find out the real state of affairs in this sphere. Systemic approach and understanding of the real state of affairs was also demonstrated by profile adviser Mikhail Fyodorov in his "League" interview. Mikhail looks at the state system of Ukraine without illusions and (in words) is ready for anti-corruption and sabotage. That's good. It is also nice that the "state in a smartphone" is not an end in itself and not a fetish, but part of a certain state strategy to create a new "digital" economy.

However, in the same interview, it is openly stated that Zelensky's team has only begun to assess the risks and challenges of the upcoming reform. A very simple message is hidden behind the kaleidoscope of agendas, road maps and KPIs: the agenda for future reform is still only being formed. The adviser to the president promises that in September the first products will be presented and a general plan of action will be presented, but there are too few specifics on fundamental issues in his words. Probably, the big presentation will happen closer to the end of September - there is too much for the team to think about. And we can still guess what risks will accompany the new round of struggle with the paper bureaucracy.

The problem of stability of the system as a whole

When implementing electronic services and transferring registries to the Internet, you need to understand that there will be hacks. Not "can be". Not "possible". Will be First, objectively, absolutely reliable data protection system does not exist anywhere. Any code is full of vulnerabilities, it is enough to recall at least one heartbleed. Worse, a number of vulnerabilities exist at the hardware level: 100% of USB ports vulnerable to cybercriminals, most Intel and AMD processors (1,2,3) are vulnerable to remote cyberattacks, separately exist the threat of Chinese espionage. Something from this will definitely shoot.

It should also be taken into account that there is a powerful criminal and corruption lobby within the country, which will try to maintain control over registers, databases and lobby for any "black market". In addition, we are still at war with Russia, and the Russian potential in cyber sabotage is quite serious.

It is necessary to prepare in advance for hacking. Make backup copies of databases, use the most modern encryption, and make duplicate infrastructure. And here we smoothly move to the realization that it will not be possible to save on the "state in a smartphone" in the first hour. To start the reform, you will have to spend a lot of money. Therefore, the desire of Zelenskyi's team to attract external donors to this project is quite understandable. However, no donor money will be enough, and we must be ready for this now.

The problem of identification and cybercrime

In order for a citizen of Ukraine to use the "state in a smartphone", he must be somehow authorized in the system. How Zelensky's team sees it, we will find out in September. Currently, several variants of electronic digital signature are used in electronic services of the state, as well as authorization via Bank ID or Mobile ID. Russian experience shows that you should be careful with electronic signatures. Fraudsters can also enter your SIM card and get access to Bank ID.

Authorization by Mobile ID is better protected, but the phone can be stolen. The Smart ID technology mentioned by the president's adviser also looks well protected, but only as long as the smartphone is in your hands. And if the device was snatched from your hands while the screen was unlocked? The version with the textbook "taken to the forest, tested the passwords" is also relevant, unfortunately.

In general, as crimes are now committed with conventionally "paper" services, crimes will be committed with electronic ones as well. These crimes will have to be investigated by the cyber police unit, whose training level is still far from ideal. It is necessary to train people, recruit additional staff and pay adequate salaries - good cyber security specialists are not paid and will not work for free. That is, again, it is a question of money.

The problem of archives

A person in a modern state is constantly covered with bills. He was born here, he studied here, he worked there - a paper trail follows everyone from birth to death. If you want to make a digital state and a digital economy, paper archives will have to be digitized. Not cheap pleasure. Moreover, paper archives will also need to be kept in case of database hacking - in the event of a major failure, it is the "papers" that will help restart the electronic government.

Currently working in this direction already underway, but by the forces of enthusiasts. The state is obliged to seize the initiative and do digitization systematically and in the necessary state order.

Waiting for autumn

The fact that Zelenskyi's team has not yet presented a concrete action plan is rather a good sign. The work ahead is titanic, the stakes are huge. It is impossible to hurry, and it is even good that the matter was approached thoroughly. The main thing now is that the reformers do not "turn on the rear" and realize the scale of what they are planning. Ukrainians chose the right to feel like masters in their own state. The elimination of the bureaucracy that has imposed itself on the teeth is an important and necessary step.

Therefore, we are waiting for September, when the general concept, concrete products and implementation plans will be presented. Then we will see how serious the intentions of the new power are to take revenge in a new way.

Denis Skorbylin