Electronic Preparedness: Nothing But Manpower So Far

Although Ukraine is making great strides in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT), it still has yet to establish a well-developed informational economy that meets world standards. It is only by adopting a modern long-term ICT development strategy that Ukraine will be able to hold a suitable place in the worldwide informational society. This was the main message delivered at the February 21 presentation of the comprehensive study, An Assessment of Ukraine’s Electronic Preparedness , conducted by national and international experts. This study will be used to draw up the state-sponsored Electronic Ukraine program and help prepare Ukraine for participation in the World Summit on the Information Society.

The study, which Douglas Gardner, permanent representative of the UN Development Program in Ukraine, dubbed a “snapshot,” is based on the analysis of the strong and weak sides of the present-day “electronic state.” The weak sides thus far predominate. The country’s informational infrastructure is more developed in the urban than in the rural areas. In particular, while Kyiv enjoys Ukraine’s highest density of telephone links at 45%, the figure is a mere 5% in its rural localities. Having inherited a Soviet telecommunications system that failed to meet the requirements of a 50-million- strong country, Ukraine still lags behind other countries in the development of telecommunications. What can be considered a certain achievement in Ukraine is the proliferation of the Internet, now being used by almost one and a half million people. However, access to these services is still to be spelled out in proper legislative terms. Electronic commerce in Ukraine is still in its infancy and, according to the researchers, has not reached a critical mass to be able to “attract” the market. And, although Internet outlets quickly grow in number, they fail to net their owners as much profit as common business does.

According to the study’s authors, considerable human resources are the “strong side” of the Ukrainian ICT sector. One way or another, educational establishments annually replenish this “golden fund.” Pointing out that Ukraine is the world’s fourth largest supplier of internationally- certified programmers, QuasarMicro president Yevhen Utkin put forth a blunt question: will we be able to make effective use of the nation’s available intellectual capital? What has always served as indicator of governmental attitude to ICT development is the level of money flows. In Mr. Utkin’s words, the expenditures of all governmental agencies on information technologies reached quite a sizable amount last year (UAH 700 million), whereas the national informatization program, which is supposed to play a crucial role, accounts for not more than UAH 2 million. Nor does the new Cabinet’s recently published draft action program inspire any optimism about governmental support: Viktor Lysytsky, chair of the expert task force that did the study, pointed out that the document does not include a single word about information technologies. This is an alarming signal indeed.