U.S. wants to help export Ukraine’s e-governance app to other countries

Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesDAVOS, Switzerland — The U.S. hopes to replicate the success of an e-governance app used in Ukraine in other countries, USAID

Administrator Samantha Power told Axios on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. Driving the news: Ukraine rolled out its Diia app in 2020 to allow citizens

to access ID documents, register a business and obtain various government services from their smartphones. Since Russia's invasion began last year, the app has been expanded to

include additional tools like reporting damage from Russian strikes. As of last month, nearly 18.5 million people — more than half the adult population — were using the latest

version of the mobile app, Ukrainian officials say.State of play: USAID provided funding to Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation to help develop Diia and improve its

cybersecurity, and allocated another $8.5 million to help expand the app's services during the war, Power said in an interview on Tuesday. Ukraine is willing to share its approach

and technology with other countries, and USAID plans to begin discussions with countries about potentially using Diia as a template to build their own apps, Power added.That will

start Wednesday in Davos, when Power and Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov are set to discuss the idea with a handful of countries and potential private sector

partners who could help scale it.The big picture: Power views this as part of a broader effort to help democratic reformers around the world deliver for their people, and says

countries would be selected accordingly."We want to look at the bright spots, at the countries that are committed to transparency and an anti-corruption agenda, that are bucking

the global trends," Power said. She noted that Moldova's reformist government has already expressed interest in Ukraine's e-governance approach.Power also hopes to partner with

countries in the global south. Given the current "economic headwinds," even leaders who are working to clean up corruption and improve governance may struggle to improve the lives

of their citizens, she said. An app that allows citizens to file taxes or access birth certificates without waiting in line for hours could be one tangible improvement, she

argued.Yes, but: There are potential security and privacy concerns.It's not hard to envision a government using such an app to track a citizen's movements and activities, or

manipulating the provision of government services via the app for political gain.Power said those questions have not all been thought through yet, though she's approaching it with