Statement by the delegation of Ukraine at the UNGA Second Committee meeting on the information and communications technologies for sustainable development

Mr.Chair,

Distinguished Delegates,

Dear colleagues.

Modern technologies provide fundamental new possibilities for development, ecological protection, education, and governance, offering the prospect of solutions for many social, economic and environmental challenges of our century.

The world is transitioning into a model of the digital economy, which has great potential as a driver of sustainable economic growth. That is why digitalization has to be one of the priorities of state policy.

We thank the Secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development for its reports, which highlight major activities carried out by stakeholders.

Our country learns the international best practices in modernizing governance and digitalization.

Ukraine is grateful for the assistance provided by our partners and international organizations for public and private sector cooperation in this sphere.

Full digitization of all socially essential spheres of life is one of the main national priorities of the Government of Ukraine.

During the last months, the Ministry and the parliamentary committee on digital transformation were created. They are responsible for the state policy in the sector of digitization, development of the digital economy, and e-governance.

Fully understanding that private sector businesses play a leading role in ICT infrastructure finance and network deployment, we started the process of strengthening the national legislative framework to create favorable conditions for the development of the IT sector in Ukraine, use of Ukraine's scientific and technical potential as well as further establishment of active cooperation in this area with business, public organizations, and society.

Another key issue is the adaptation of the necessary laws to enhance the protection of personal data and reform the current information security system in the country.

The Government of Ukraine developed the project "Digital State" for the implementation of electronic services. This project will assist in creating simple and transparent public services for people. During the next three years, Ukraine is going to launch all public services online for the population and business. Public services will become easy to understand and available in electronic format, and authorities will always have reliable data to adopt effective resolutions.

The Government is also focused on the development of Smart-ID and Mobile-ID technology with the support of international partners.

The second goal is to provide high-speed Internet access to all communities and their social sites, as well as 95% of the transport infrastructure to be covered by mobile Internet.

The third goal is to engage 6 million Ukrainians in the digital skills and competency development program. We need to ensure lifelong learning to enable people to move between jobs as technology evolves. Education and capacity building are crucial to derive developmental gains from technological innovation.

We believe all these measures will have a significant positive impact on the sustainable development of our country and will help Ukraine make progress and achieve real economic growth.

My country is interested in attracting investments and advanced innovations to implement joint projects in the field of the development of the digital economy.

Ukraine believes cooperation between countries, diffusion of innovations, and new technologies will help to bridge many gaps in sustainable development on the national level.

In conclusion, our delegation wants to reiterate that frontier technologies have significant potential to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by transforming economies and improving living standards.

Thank you for your attention.