IT innovations in Ukraine after 500 days of war

Warfare has catalysed innovation throughout history

Throughout history, warfare has served as a catalyst for innovation. Although bloody and brutal, it drives remarkable technology advancement and continues to shape lives long after the battles are over.

The war in Ukraine, ongoing now for more than a year and a half, has opened a completely new chapter in this field. It has introduced cutting-edge developments like a naval fleet of drones, new forms of cyber threats, round-the-clock conflict coverage on social media, the utilisation of satellites, electronic warfare and much more.

In this article, we will explore the remarkable resilience of the Ukrainian IT industry, and how its players have maintained a steadfast focus on growth and the development of new products and technologies.

How Ukrainian IT faced the war

The war has dramatically changed the country's IT landscape. Ukraine's capital Kyiv, which was the main tech hub with the largest concentration of employees and companies, was desolated for nearly three months. Another focal point, Kharkiv, was deserted for a much longer period - it's located just 25 miles from the Russian border. The IT community moved to safer locations like Lviv, where the number of IT professionals tripled.

But even after the outbreak of the war, the IT sector was not significantly affected at first, and cooperation with Western customers continued. Without detracting from the courage of people who worked from shelters or from their cars, the carefully tailored business continuity plans and strong international support played a significant role in sustaining things as they were.

All in all, Ukrainians quickly came back to their senses and usual working routine. For example, for us at Sigma Software Group, a 2000-ish employee company founded in 2002 in Kharkiv, it took only two weeks to fully resume our operations. Pulling ourselves together, Ukrainian citizens started donating money to the army and other funds. Over 300,000 people have joined the IT Army, a volunteer cyberwarfare organisation created to fight against disinformation.

Ukrainians also continued to develop new tech, like innovations in the defence sector.

IT innovations in Ukraine after 500 days of war

Warfare has catalysed innovation throughout history

Military-tech boom

No wonder many initiatives in Ukraine today are driving innovation in military tech. IT professionals are designing software solutions that aim to improve the defence industry, and the combat capabilities of the country's military.

Consider Delta, a comprehensive situational awareness system created by the Innovation Center under the Defense Ministry of Ukraine. The tool can be likened to a military version of Google Maps. It offers live visualisations of the battlefield that align with NATO standards, aggregating data from multiple sources such as aerial reconnaissance, satellite imagery and drone footage.

Ukrainians have also developed a custom chatbot that enables citizens to report any sightings of hostile military personnel and equipment. This feature has been incorporated into the popular Diia app and has garnered more than 500,000 users.

A year ago we held a cross-European hackathon called Hack for Peace, which saw the participation of 400 individuals from five countries. These participants presented anti-war tech solutions, and one of the winners, Bees Against Mines, created a ground-breaking solution that replaces direct human involvement with human-controlled drones. This solution costs less than $1 per m² and is crucial, given that over 270,000 km² of territory in Ukraine are mined.

Innovations like this have the potential to make a significant impact, and are vital for the safety and security of people in the region.

The innovations in this field will continue to flourish. For example, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, a government-backed organisation that seeds early-stage start-ups, resumed funding in October. It will finance up to 10 emerging companies a month with grants of up to $35,000. Most will focus on miltech. Recently the Ministry of Digital Transformation organised the Drone Hackathon, aimed at searching for innovative and effective solutions in the fight against enemy drones to protect the sky, and three winners were granted $1 million to scale production.

To coordinate and support such activities, the government has founded a united platform for defence tech in Ukraine called BRAVE1. Its main goal is to arm and transfer advanced Ukrainian innovative solutions to the front for superiority and victory over the enemy; comprehensive support of local developers in the field of defence technologies; and development of the sphere to transform the country into a world leader in defence tech.

Besides governmental support, start-ups can also benefit from existing ecosystem stakeholders. Private VC funds like Sigma Software Labs are also interested in projects in the fields of military/defence tech and dual-use start-ups. They firmly believe that investing in these teams is a contribution in the security and prosperity of Ukraine.

Dual-use is key. Today, Ukraine's government and founders concentrate on wartime innovation to assist the army. However, these emerging products can also serve as the backbone of Ukraine's post-war economy. Look at Israel, where military innovations played a pivotal role in fostering a thriving IT sector. Government support and experience gained from military projects transformed the country into a global tech hub, propelling the nation to leadership in cybersecurity and autonomous driving vehicles.

We believe Ukraine can and will follow a similar trajectory, as military developments can have benefits beyond wartime by leading to new industries and stimulating economic activity through government spending. Examples of this include the development of the internet, GPS technology and advanced prosthetics. These advancements can later be applied in civilian sectors, such as medicine, transportation, communications, etc.

Speaking of civic...

IT innovations in Ukraine after 500 days of war

Warfare has catalysed innovation throughout history

Social war-related projects - and more

Adversity make us stronger. The determination and ingenuity have led Ukrainians not only to advancements in military tech, but beyond. Many social and community initiatives have sprung up like mushrooms after a rainstorm.

We are witnessing the emergence of numerous new services, such as the assessment of damaged property, and the registration of temporarily displaced persons. For example, for the Kharkiv City Council our volunteers created a chatbot that allows city residents to find out about the status, availability of electricity, and water supply of their houses.

Just one month after the invasion we at Sigma, together with Danir Group, created "Swedes for Ukraine," uniting 3,000 refugees and hosts. Our Design unit led the project, and hundreds of families have found shelter through the platform.

Another team from Sigma Software developed an idea to connect Ukrainian businesses and customers worldwide. They created a mobile app, Dovkolo Club, where you can get community recommendations about all kinds of daily issues.

Many other big companies have also joined local and national initiatives and started to help. Many came up with their own projects.

The Mobile Doctors project was carried out with the support of Farmak, Ukraine's medicines manufacturer. The purpose is to provide free medical care and medicines to Ukrainians in the de-occupied territories. Trucks converted into a mobile laboratory and an ultrasound room are being sent to the villages and cities liberated from the invaders.

Since the start of the war, Uber has expanded its operations in Ukraine from 9 to 18 cities to help provide local communities with essential transportation. In support of leading international relief agencies, the company has provided more than 100,000 free rides for refugees, doctors, nurses, and essential workers across the country.

The government has initiated an "Army of Drones" — a project that includes the purchase of thousands of drones, repairs for the systems, training for 10,000 operators, and a push for widespread drone production. Ukraine has purchased almost 4,000 drones and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) systems, and 18 naval drones. Legendary actor Mark Hamill is one of the key ambassadors of this project.

But war is not the only focus.

Ukrainians are exploring the new frontiers of emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, quantum computing, and much more.

For example, Ukrainian unicorn People.ai develops an AI service that collects and analyses data generated by sales managers to give them recommendations and, ultimately, to help close deals faster and more efficiently.

Ukrainians are also behind Reface — a mobile app that allows users to replace faces in videos and photos, voice-over content, and generate AI portraits from multiple selfies. So far️ it has over 250 million downloads in more than 200 countries.

The folks behind Haiqu are making it possible to get the most out of limited and error-prone quantum computers, thus enabling them to perform computational tasks that until recently were impossible. The company's solutions combine quantum informatics with AI and high-performance computing.

That's just the tip of the iceberg. Ukraine is overflowing with bright, talented people who are striving to create new game-changing products that will define our future. This is one of the reasons why today many local players are uniting in new ecosystem ventures and communities.