President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a video conference with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Facebook Vice President Nick Clegg.
The President briefed Sheryl Sandberg and Nick Clegg on Ukraine's key achievements in digitization and recent steps taken by the Ukrainian authorities to improve tax and legal regimes for IT companies.
"Digitization is a priority of our state. This is one of the coolest reforms that is being actively implemented. We are digitizing one hundred percent of public services," Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed.
The President noted that Ukraine became the first country in the world to equate digital passports with ordinary ones. In addition, thanks to the Diia single portal of public services, citizens can use the services of electronic signature and business opening.
"It is not only our desire - to make all services as regards business, as regards the state accessible and comfortable for people in digital format. We have a real result," he stressed.
According to the Head of State, it is planned to expand the list of electronic services in Ukraine.
"We have several ambitious goals: e-customs, parliamentary and presidential elections, digital census of Ukrainian citizens," the President said.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that the IT industry in our country is actively developing and today accounts for 4% of the country's GDP.
"We want growth of up to 10% and we see this as a reality in the next two or three years," the President said.
The President also noted that Ukraine is actively fighting against Russian disinformation. In particular, he informed about the experience of the Center for Countering Disinformation, which cooperates with international partners of our country and helped counteract Russian interference during the elections in Moldova. In addition, there is a Cyber Security Center in Ukraine that counteracts cyberattacks, primarily from Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited Facebook representatives to visit “Diia. Summit ", which will take place in Kyiv on November 29.
"This would be a significant support for the digital vector in Ukraine. We are confident that we will be the first in Europe to implement all digital services. Your arrival would be a very good signal," the Head of State stressed.
The President suggested considering the possibility of opening a Facebook office in Ukraine.
“We are committed to providing the best service and support to our Ukrainian users. This is reflected in different actions across the company, including the recent launch of Facebook Amber Alert in Ukraine, and we hope to strengthen our cooperation in the future,” Sheryl Sandberg noted.
Facebook Vice President Nick Clegg said that the company's operations had disrupted 150 disinformation campaigns about the COVID-19 pandemic and shut down 18 networks that influenced public opinion.
Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said that Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidential campaign was the most technological in the world, and that the key communication channels during the campaign were Facebook and Instagram.
"Facebook and Instagram are a key source of traffic for a large number of small and medium-sized companies," said Mykhailo Fedorov.
The participants of the video conference also discussed the opening of a Facebook R&D center in Ukraine.