A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Apple Inc. and Apple Ukraine LLC was signed in the Office of the President of Ukraine in the presence of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The document was signed by Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov and Director of Liaison with Public Authorities of Countries and Regions at Apple Inc. Mark Lennon.
The memorandum provides for cooperation, exchange of information and support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation on a number of initiatives. In particular, the company will cooperate with the ministry in the framework of the All-Ukrainian 2023 Census. Ukraine will be the second country in the world after the United States to conduct such a census with Apple.
The company will support the Ministry of Digital Transformation in developing and identifying priority projects related to Ukraine's transition to paperless mode and improving the experience of citizens' interaction with public authorities. For example, Apple will provide support in the use and improvement of the Diia application based on the iOS operating system.
According to the Memorandum, the company will also work with the ministry to increase the digital literacy of Ukrainians, in particular to help identify vocational training opportunities aimed at supporting teachers who use the iOS platform. There will also be initiatives to bring digital technologies to the healthcare sector.
Before the ceremony of signing the Memorandum, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that after a meeting with Apple's top management in September this year at the company's headquarters, cooperation between Ukraine and the global technological giant is developing rapidly.
"For us, one of the main priorities is to digitize all public services, the work of public authorities," said the President of Ukraine.
He once again invited Apple to take part in the Diia Summit, which is an extremely important event for Ukraine that will take place in February 2022.
For his part, Mark Lennon stressed that he has been working with governments for 23 years and has never seen such a government as now in Ukraine, which acts so quickly, progressively and innovatively.
"And I agree with the opinion that technology is a matter of national security for Ukraine," he said.
After this year's meeting in the United States, the team of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and representatives of Apple maintained constant contact on the development of joint projects and expanding the company's presence in the Ukrainian market. The logical result of these negotiations was the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Apple.
"The signing of the Memorandum with Apple is an important step not only for digitization in Ukraine, but also for the recognition of our achievements in this field around the world. We are grateful to Apple for constant cooperation with our ministry and the opportunity to implement the world's best solutions to achieve our most important goal - turning the state into a convenient and efficient service that you want to trust," said Mykhailo Fedorov.
