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“I hear sirens, there’s a rocket attack nearby. . . well, anyway. . . “This disruption is a daily norm for Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for IT Development in Ukraine.
Even six months later, the attacks and sirens do not cease. They can occur while having coffee, reading emails, or conducting an interview with the press, like this one.
Located in the country’s capital, Kyiv, it is just another day in Bornyakov’s office. When you hear a siren now, you open an app on your phone that tracks data about movements and warnings. Although it has been a while since a strike rocket hit Kyiv, sirens warn that it can happen again at any time, and they do not let go. Hearing them has become so common, it happens several times a day, he says, that he rarely feels the desire to Run to cover you. He continues to work, like himself and so many others, in the computer and generation sector since the day the war began.
“If you concentrate on the paintings, you don’t feel bad, but of course it’s annoying. I think, as Ukrainians, we all seek to do our best. I paint in this box and someone else is protecting the 0 line in front. “and someone else is volunteering,” he said. “We are all doing our homework to help the country overcome this ordeal. That’s my role and I can’t give it up. I feel responsible. It motivates me. “
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As Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, a large component of Bornyakov’s daily task is to help generation projects and maintain the strength of the country’s IT and generation sector, even during the war. Their workplace is also to help Ukrainian citizens have access to the generation to do their homework and generate business so that they can continue to pay taxes to help the military.
Acting as an anchor for the country’s IT industry, the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT) has worked on several projects to help the sector, adding tax cuts to IT corporations and ensuring that the generation infrastructure remains intact for civil and government communications.
More recently, MDT introduced a flexible national program to help Ukrainian citizens enter the IT workforce. The purpose is twofold: to solve the IT shortage in the country and “to give other people who have lost their jobs due to the war the opportunity to locate a promising new field,” Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister of Digital Transformation, said.
Bornyakov said that in addition to the effort, he and his team are running to launch accelerators and startup incubators. He added that some could also advance army technologies. A private venture capital budget will also be introduced to provide monetary assistance.
MDT’s efforts have proven important in bolstering the country’s technological defenses amid the less visual aspect of war with Russia: cyber warfare. An April 2022 report from Microsoft found that Russian cyberattacks against Ukraine were carried out through “cyber actors from the Russian geographic region achieving intrusions in concert with the action of the kinetic army. “
Microsoft’s attack review also found that “more than 40% of destructive attacks targeted organizations in critical infrastructure sectors that can have second-rate negative effects on government, the military, the economy, and the population,” and in addition, “Thirty-two% of destructive incidents that affected Ukrainian government organizations nationwide, regional and municipal.
The IT sector in Ukraine generates 4% of the country’s GDP. A 2021 report from the country’s IT Association indicates that the industry employs around 300,000 professionals and around 5000 IT corporations in its hard work market. The sector would have continued to grow for about 25 to 50% consistent with the year.
The report, which was published before the invasion of Russia, quotes Konstantin Vasyuk, executive director of the country’s IT Association, as saying: “Over the past 25 years, Ukraine’s IT sector has taken a leap forward. Starting almost from scratch, it has a very smart industry. . . For the first time in its history, the IT industry is no longer a niche sector, yet it fits in with style almost everywhere.
Now in its sixth month of war, Ukraine has noticed several industries turned upside down, businesses closed, thousands of lives claimed [subscription required] and thousands more injured.
What would possibly be a marvel, despite the destruction of the war, is that Ukraine’s IT sector has not only remained strong, but is doing well. This is partly due to the functions presented through remote work.
According to Vasyuk, a recent survey conducted through the Ukrainian IT Association among IT corporations found that 77% had already attracted new customers, even during the war, and 56% expected a biological expansion of around 500 workers this year. He notes that, of course, the scenario is volatile and ongoing due to the war, but he says the third quarter will reveal more and that the IT Association is in close communication with its member corporations about issues, exchanging data on how to triumph over infrastructure challenges and more. “For now we are more or less solid and basically all the contingency plans have been implemented, but we have plans A, B, C for other developments,” he said. “We perceive that infrastructure can suffer and perceiving how living this winter is not easy. . . We are thinking about the worst-case scenarios and we want to be prepared for them. “
War is traditionally related to destruction, not innovation. But since the first day of the war, technology professionals in Ukraine have used their talents for the nation’s efforts and to cope with humanitarian wishes amid the crisis.
When the February 24 invasion replaced their reality, after moving outside the country to protect themselves or remain as productive as possible, Ukrainians turned to working with the government, to help the country’s computer army and cybersecurity infrastructure amid Russian hackers. – or took the avant-garde path described above.
“A lot of other people working in the IT industry turned to nonprofit ideas,” Bornyakov said. Ukrainians sought help and began participating in new projects, such as helping others create apps that report on attacks, support humanitarian wishes, or run other projects. with volunteers, Bornyakov said.
The products that have emerged from that diversity of concepts range from applications that provide resources for citizens moving to safer countries, to others that scan groceries and let the user know if a product belongs to Russia. so you can buy it to assert your economic loyalty to Ukraine. Array
“I must say that, in general, the feeling among Ukrainian software developers and engineers [is] enthusiasm to help in every way imaginable, whether it is by joining the army or territorial defense units, participating in cyberattacks against Russian government establishments and banks, or simply continuing with their usual jobs to keep the economy running,” Pavel Belavin, editor-in-chief of Highload, a Ukrainian generation news site, wrote in a letter to VB earlier this year.
Here are some of the cutting-edge corporations that were born from the ashes of war:
Tonti Laguna Mobile is a multi-product company that specializes in the progression and promotion of programs for iOS and Android, which the team also creates in-house. Dmytro Lola, CEO of the company, leads a team in countries, and adds Ukraine.
Lola said the war hasn’t hurt the company because its business style is based on things outside of the Ukrainian and Russian markets only, but it has disrupted the way the company operates and what it does.
“There are some adjustments, of course: there are no longer mandatory meetings; participants come when they can because many are forced to spend time in shelters from bombing. The working day is no longer fixed, everyone works what they can. “Lola told VentureBeat via email, “I’m proud of our team because, despite all the difficulties, our productivity hasn’t suffered much. “
Lola and her team also spent time developing an app called Food Scanner. Originally created two years ago, the app was designed to make it easier for other people with allergies or food sensitivities to buy. When war broke out, Lola and her team incorporated a new feature, which alerts a customer if the product is compatible with a Russian company so they can decide not to buy it.
“We have noticed the trend: many other people do not need to be complicit in the murder of Ukrainian civilians by not boycotting the assets of corporations that continue to operate with Russia. Our team is adding convenient capability to our app to facilitate this initiative,” he wrote. Suppose the scanned product is manufactured through a logo that continues to work in Russia despite foreign sanctions. In this case, users will see a disclaimer stating that they are sponsoring the war in Ukraine by purchasing this product. is larger than an analogue of a more human competitor.
Led by CEO Artem Borodatyuk (co-founder of Tonti Laguna Mobile), Netpeak Group is a Ukrainian IT collective composed of 14 companies, 900 workers and 5000 customers. Borodatyuk explained in an email that before the war, the organization largely focused on developing software as a service (SaaS), B2C equipment, and mobile apps. After helping to evacuate its workers to safety, the wartime upgrade led the company, at first, to seek a strong position in the market.
“We seek to maintain our position in the markets in which we were already active, but we also aim to introduce new markets to continue with the Ukrainian economy,” Borodatyuk said. to Russian propaganda with other computer corporations founded and founded in Ukraine. “
Netpeak Group, like Tonti Laguna Mobile (which is part of the collective), also felt a desire to inspire citizens to boycott anything that is similar to the Russian government and economy. “Ukrainian corporations also refuse to use any software of Russian origin. Russian software products, corporations are sponsoring Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Borodatyuk wrote. “Therefore, Netpeak Group created [the] allocation #ReplaceRUwithUA and promoted the list of preferred answers for corporations, thus encouraging non-Russian startups to provide better software. and SaaS responds. “
Redwerk is a Medium-sized Ukrainian software development company that creates Web2 and Web3 products as well as SaaS tools. Founder and CEO Konstantin Klyagin echoes the emotions of resilience.
When the war began, Klyagin fled, as did his colleagues. At one point, the company had two offices, but the paintings in the office have become almost obsolete due to COVID-19 and then annoying threats. Since the early days of the war with Russia, Klyagin’s team has been operating from other regions. When this began, several Redwerk consumers came forward to continue paying Redwerk for the facilities, even though they were unable to perform the task at the time, while moving to safety, Klyagin said. .
He kept working.
“It’s smart for our intellectual aptitude and we look forward to continuing to deliver value to our customers,” Klyagin told VentureBeat.
Klyagin and his team focused their efforts on hiring some of the engineers and developers who had lost their jobs because their corporations served Ukrainian markets.
“I looked to rent them again. I looked for those other talented people so they could help their families as well,” he said. “So I started writing and talking to each of my clients and they were very supportive. Some even sent additional cash to help rent them.
In addition to hiring displaced engineers, Klyagin’s team also worked for the army and other volunteers in any and all possible ways. Fortunately, all Klyagin team members were safe after the first move. He would tell Klyagin if they needed anything, and he and his team would search to locate him and get everything he was for them.
From the early days of the war, Klyagin said some of his team members had returned to Ukraine and that the company itself had continued to expand its partnerships, hired more than 25 new workers and even got five new consumers since the war. has begun.
Currently, it is running on the creation of a Web3 knowledge garage and a decentralized messaging product for the metaverse, according to Klyagin.
Resilience turns out to be a common thread among Ukrainians in the IT sector, which does not prevent even when the sirens sound.
“I can say with confidence that the IT industry in Ukraine has completely adapted to the existing realities and now we are no longer afraid of problems,” Lola said. “We have much more powerful and I expect a breakthrough of Ukraine’s generation products. “in the global market in the coming years. “
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