Ukraine’s IT sector is often billed as a key part of the country’s economic future. But what challenges lie ahead for the industry? What can Ukrainian society expect from tech?
When Yuri Dobronravin tried to enlist in the Ukrainian military after the annexation of Crimea in spring 2014, officers at the recruitment station told him that his expertise in anti-aircraft systems wouldn’t be needed. Dobronravin, a programmer, had been active in the protests that toppled former president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2015 – and he wanted to use his technical knowledge in Ukraine’s emerging war against separatists and Russian regulars in the east. He started working as a volunteer programmer instead, creating digital maps of the war zone at a time when, as Dobronravin, puts it, “the Ukrainian army didn’t even have paper maps.”
