E-NNOVATE UKRAINE: E-GOVERNMENT and E-DEMOCRACY WITH REAL IMPACT - 6 April 2017

Hackathons, so what? Pushing the boundaries & sustaining innovation

Hannes Gassert is a Swiss civic entrepreneur, author and strategist at the intersection of technology, media and culture. Besides deeply caring for his ventures such as Liip, a leading web agency, or Wemakeit, Switzerland’s crowdfunding platform, he's successfully putting transparency, innovation and participation through open knowledge on Switzerland's political agenda: he's a policy shaper with a hacker mind.

Towards Strategic Policy Alignment of E-government Policies

Lena Minitch has over 20 years of executive experience in telecommunications. She was the CEO of Freshtel Ukraine, a WIMAX wireless broadband Internet provider, worked for a Siemens AG subsidiary in Kiev, acted as project manager at MTS Ukraine (now Vodafone UA) and as the executive director for products and services at Eurotel Praha (now Telefonica Czech Republic). In her position as chief marketing officer of Utel, a mobile business unit of Ukrtelecom, Lena launched the first UMTS network in Ukraine in 2007, and as the managing director for Avantel Czech Republic, she acted as an executive strategy adviser to introduce a Vodafone-Azerfon brand on the Azeri market.  In her most recent position as the Director of Innovations and Intellectual Property Department at the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine Lena developed the reform strategy on intellectual property (6 draft laws,) a Road Map for Digital Economy with the European Commission and initiated project of World Bank for Innovation Development Office.  Lena has two Master’s degrees in business telecommunication from Technical University Delft in the Netherlands, in electrical engineering from Kiev Polytechnics University in Ukraine.

Towards Strategic Policy Alignment of E-government Policies

Valery Fischuk is CISCO’s Business Development and Government Relations Manager. He is currently one of the leading figures and advocates of a national Digital Agenda for Ukraine being a Manager of this particular project within NGO "HighTech Office" and the Vice-president of the Association "Innovative development of Ukraine". Prior to his current position, he served as CISCO’s Regional Business Manager for Public Sector in Ukraine (2006-2014), the Head of Government IT-projects in "Softline Company" (2002-2006) and the deputy chief editor of the "Oil and Gas" journal from 1998 to 2002. He graduated from Zhytomyr Pedagogical University and Ukrainian-Finnish Institute of Finance, Management and Business.

Hackathons, so what? Pushing the boundaries & sustaining innovation

*Thierry Bouffioux is Belgian independent provocative advisor, investor and co-founder of numerous startups. Thierry is a firm believer in the new digital and social economy where everybody contributes to the ‘good’ of our radically changing lives and environment. He is an active advocate of innovation through partnerships, has a background in engineering, an executive MBA from MIT with expertise in cutting edge Innovation, telecommunication and media. His past clients included mobile provider STC, city of Amsterdam, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Facebook. His current portfolio includes over 20 activities including Symbid a crowd-funding/investment portfolio platform http://symbid.com,  Insocial a smart evaluation system for small and large companies http://www.insocial.eu,  Victhorious an IT platform to help company to scale up, fuel-up a matching service for start-ups and corporates http://fuelup.co, G3Industries a smart mobile house provider http://www.g3industry.com/about/among others .

Glass Ceilings or Not? Ukrainian Women making a difference in IT Innovation

Oksana Borysenko is an up and coming leader, mentor and professional in the IT development and startup sector in Ukraine. Her many credentials include being the President of Digital Ukraine Association (digitalua.org), CEO of eTrade, CEO and Co-founder of project Zglove (former EnableTalk) and a principal mentor/organizer of Bad Girls Ventures in Ukraine (www.badgirlventures.com). Currently she is the Project manager of OpenAid.gov.ua at Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine, an online platform for registering and coordinating over 300 donor programs that operate in Ukraine.

Hackathons, so what? Pushing the boundaries & sustaining innovation

Viacheslav is a founder of @INNOVATION BOX (http://innovationbox.com.ua/)based in Dnipro and is the national coordinator E-governance for Accountability and Participation Program’s (EGAP) CHALLENGE. He is a specialist on the mergers and acquisitions market in IT. In 2007 he made his first successful patents sale of a medical technologies company. Since 2010 has been the Dnipro regional manager of a program that seeks to attract local and international investments to boost infrastructure and market development; the program’s portfolio amounts to $60 million USD. He is a sought-after professional in market research and analytics, innovative products management and services. Viacheslav is also an avid supporter, coach and mentor of startups that seek investments and are in various stages of acceleration and mergers and acquisitions deals.

Hackathons, so what? Pushing the boundaries & sustaining innovation

Jordanka Tomkova, PhD is the E-governance Advisor for the Swiss-Ukrainian E-Governance for Accountability and Participation (EGAP) Program and Senior Governance Advisor at the Swiss INNOVABRIDGE Foundation. She holds two Masters degrees and a Doctorate with a specialization in e-participation and e-governance. Prior to coming to Ukraine Jordanka worked at the World Bank in Washington, Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation and has been a member of several European Union research projects on electronic civic participation, voter advice applications, deliberative polling and the use of petitions in the European Parliament. Jordanka believes in innovative e-governance models with a human touch where socially responsible IT innovation and anti-disciplinary approach to problem solving fluidly interact.

Concept and Action Plan for E-democracy in Ukraine: What’s next ?

Іs the Head of the Center for Innovations Development at the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” and the Chief Expert of the E-Democracy Group at the Reanimation Package of Reforms. Serhyi is a known civil society activist and advocate of social innovation and e-democracy instruments in Ukraine. He has co-authored the Law “On Citizens’ Petitions”, he is a Member of the Experts Council at the Kyiv Smart City initiative, and has been one of the chief architects of the successful Kyiv City’s participatory budget project in 2016 (www.kyivsmartcity.com/projects/participatory-budget) that involved 50+ thousand citizens, 321 projects worth 1 million USD (from city’s budget), an interactive online platform and online-offline voting mechanism.

Regional Voices: Innovative approaches in E-government and E-democracy

Roman has been the regional coordinator of e-government and administrative services in the Volyn region for the last few years. He is an expert involved in various projects related to the improvement of e-government services and administrative services. Since November 2016, he became the Regional Coordinator of the EGAP Program in the Volyn region. In this capacity and in cooperation with local authorities in the Volyn region, he implemented: i) creation of the Volyn Center for Innovation in e-government; ii) the regional school of e-government; and iii) Implementation of Electronic Queue Management System at Office for Administrative Services in Lutsk.

Glass Ceilings or Not? Ukrainian Women making a difference in IT Innovation

Is the Business Program Manager at Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners Group unit at Microsoft Ukraine. Her primary responsibilities include helping Microsoft, its customers, and industry partners to identify opportunities for growth in the small and midmarket business segments. Before coming to Microsoft Sofiia held the position in the Department of International Projects  and International Cooperation of the State Employment Service (Central Office) and also had experience of working in Committee for European Integration, UA parliament. 

Hackathons, so what? Pushing the boundaries & sustaining innovation

Iryna Ozymok is the Local Economic Development Program Manager at the Western NIS Enterprise Fund. The Western NIS Enterprise Fund supports a number of projects including the e-public procurement system ProZorro, 1991 Open Data Incubator, CANactions Scholl of Urban Studies, reconstruction of schools in post-war territory, the projects "Open Court Reporter" and "Hub Schools." Master of Advanced European Studies at College of Europe (Warsaw), Iryna taught European integration policy at the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine, where she did her thesis. 

IT for Peace

Helena Puig Larrauri is a co-founder and director of Build Peace/ Peace Through Technology (howtobuildpeace.org), an international social enterprise that amplifies citizen participation in peace through technology, arts and research. Her focus at Build Up is on programs that introduce innovation design and technology tools that support civic engagement and prevent conflict. Helena has worked with UN agencies, NGOs, civil society organisations and activities in many countries including Sudan, South Sudan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Colombia, Myanmar, Burundi, Central African Republic, and Cyprus. She sits on the Board of Advisors of International Alert and Elva Community Engagement. She is a graduate of Oxford University and Princeton University.

Glass Ceilings or Not? Ukrainian Women making a difference in IT Innovation

Coordinator of Dani Mist/ Apps 4 Cities, an initiative that promotes the open data agenda at city level in Ukraine. She is the organizer of the national Apps4Cities Challenge Competition and portal which has so far identified 68 innovative local services. In her previous positions, Ruslana was a regional coordinator for elections monitoring, energy efficiency and alternative energy resources. She hopes that open data will become more of a popular in Ukraine topic than it is now.

Glass Ceilings or Not? Ukrainian Women making a difference in IT Innovation

Artur Kocharyan is the Coordinator of E-democracy Component, E-Governance for Accountability and Participation (EGAP) Program. He holds a Doctorate in Pedagogical Studies from the National University of Natural Resources in Ukraine and specializes on innovative approaches to learning and effective integration of information technologies into education.

Towards Strategic Policy Alignment of E-government Policies

Since 2014, Mr. Ryzhenko has been acting as the Chairman and Director of the State Agency for E-government in Ukraine. In 2014 he also served as the Head of IT and e-government Ministry of Regional Development, Construction and Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine and prior to this as the Director of Information Technology Vinnytsia City Council (2011 – 2014) and as the Head of Computerization and Telecommunications Vinnytsia City Council (2007 – 2011). He has graduated from 1998 - graduated from Vinnitsa Technical College with a degree in electrical engineering.

Concept and Action Plan for E-democracy in Ukraine: What’s next ?

Anna is the co-founder of the NGO "Electronic Democracy" that specializes on e-voting solutions. NGO "electronic democracy" held its first officially recognized online voting campaign (and system) in Ukraine for the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and is working to roll out the practice in various public councils at various levels of Government. She holds a Maters Degree in International Information and has been one of the authors of the National Concept and Action Plan (2016-2018) for E-democracy in Ukraine.

Concept and Action Plan for E-democracy in Ukraine: What’s next ?

Alexander is the Chairman of the Board and one of the founders of the NGO Civil Society Online (civilsociety.org.ua). He has more than 10 years of experience in the financial sector, civil society activities and research. Thomson-Reuters Extel Survey nominated him as Ukraine’s the best macroeconomist in 2008. Alexander also volunteer as one of the founders of Ukrainian society of CFA Institute and a Member of The Index Committee of a major Ukrainian Stock Exchange – UX. He holds a Masters Degree with Honors in International Finance from the Institute of International Relations at the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.

Regional Voices: Innovative approaches in E-government and E-democracy

Tatiana is the Head of IT and E-government in Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. For over 15 years, she has been coordinating information and e-governance activities in the Dnipropetrovsk region, first as the Head of Sector, then as the Head of the Specialized Agency of Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration. She graduated from the Faculty of Radio DNU. She holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and has completed an E-Government program from the Korea International Cooperation Agency. She is the Regional Coordinator and chief contact point of the EGAP Program within the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Administration.

IT for Peace

Vira is originally from Lviv, has a financial background. She started her career in a banking sector, where she served as SME development officer. She joint the Unite Nations in 2010 as a financial officer and has subsequently managed projects in environment and poverty reduction areas. Currently Vira’s work is focused on eastern Ukraine where she serves as a Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme Analyst.

Regional Voices: Innovative approaches in E-government and E-democracy

For the past three years (since 2014) Volodymyr has been the Director of Information Technology Vinnytsia City Council. Prior to becoming a Director, he worked as the Deputy Director of Information Technology Vinnytsia City Council. He is a graduate of the technical college in Vinnytsia with a degree in electrical engineering. From 2006 to 2010 he studied "Management" at the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management and from 2013 to 2016 he studied Public Administration at the Odessa Regional Institute of the National Academy of Public Administration of Ukraine and earned a Master's degree. He is married and has a son and a daughter.

Regional Voices: Innovative approaches in E-government and E-democracy

Since 2016 Andrii is the Deputy Director of the Regional Information and Analytical Center in Odesa region. In 2010 he became a member of the Scientific-Technical Council for Information and E-governance in the Odessa Regional State Administration and in 2009 a member of the Interdisciplinary Council on the Development of the Information Society.

Concept and Action Plan for E-democracy in Ukraine: What’s next ?

Sofia is the Head of the E-Democracy Laboratory for the Podolian Agency for Regional Development (PARD) NGO based in Vinnytsia. Prior to her position in PARD, she was an associate e-governance analyst for the “European dialogue” NGO’s and “Think Tank Development Initiative in Ukraine”. Sofia has a Master’s degree in international relations and a bachelor’s degree in philology from Ivan Franko Lviv National University. She currently promotes civic education in the e-democracy sphere and is a member of the e-Democracy Coalition that co-wrote the national Concept and Action Plan (2016-18) on E-democracy.

Regional Voices: Innovative approaches in E-government and E-democracy

Aleksandr Kamenchuk is the Head of Unit responsible for the Development of a System for Administrative services at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine.

Towards Strategic Policy Alignment of E-government Policies

Victor Liakh came to East Europe Foundation in February 2008 as executive director. In 2005-2008, Victor served as Executive director of the Child Well-Being Fund Ukraine, a daughter organization of the CCF Inc., where he worked in various capacities beginning in 2001. Victor received a degree in information engineering from Kyiv Polytechnic University and a master’s degree in social work and social pedagogy from Luhansk State Pedagogical University. He also studied social work at the School for Professional Development in Freiburg Catholic University in Germany. Victor studied Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Business in the Community (BITC) in the UK while being a fellow of the John Smith Program in 2008. He also studied CSR in the US while being a fellow of IVLP program in 2011. Since 2011 Victor serves as a Chairman of CSR Committee of European Business Association in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Concept and Action Plan for E-democracy in Ukraine: What’s next ?

Director of the Department of E-governance and Information Society Development at the State Agency for E-Governance in Ukraine. Dmytro is responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of e-governance policies such as policy on information society, interoperability, e-services, e-identification, e-democracy and open data. He is currently in the process of obtaining a post-graduate degree at the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine.

Hackathons, so what? Pushing the boundaries & sustaining innovation

Executive Director and founder of SocialBoost, organization that has been holding social hackathons since 2012 and has since consolidated a community of more than 1000 IT-volunteers around Ukraine. Viktor led the development of a series of IT-services for the government including the National Open Data Portal. In 2016, he co-founded 1991 Open Data Incubator — initiative that develops open data startups, with offices in 3 Ukrainian cities. 36 startups have graduated from the Incubator and raised a total of 10m UAH in both venture and non-commercial capital. At the beginning of 2016 founded «Civil Project» — an online platform for participatory budgeting processes in cities that has been used by more than 500k citizens.