Bridging Ukraine’s and Germany’s GovTech Ecosystems through Open Innovation
The Global Government Technology Centre in Kyiv, GovStack, and the Centre for Digital Governance at the Hertie School successfully hosted a half-day workshop on open innovation in the public sector on October 15, 2025, at GovTech Campus Deutschland, Berlin. The event brought together a diverse range of German and European digital innovation practitioners and startup representatives, Ukrainian GovTech solution providers, public sector leaders, and members of the academic and research community.
The “Bridging Ukraine’s and Germany’s GovTech Ecosystems through Open Innovation” workshop provided a platform to explore how open, scalable, and user-centred digital solutions can transform government services. Participants had the opportunity to learn from GGTC Kyiv, GovStack and leading stakeholders in both the Ukrainian and German GovTech ecosystems, including digital innovation practitioners, startup representatives, public sector leaders, and members of the academic and research community.
As part of the workshop, participants had a chance to engage with real GovTech challenges from Ukraine and learned about the GovTech Lab UA, an open innovation program in government technology implemented by the Global Government Technology Centre Kyiv (GGTC) with support of Switzerland, EGAP Program, and East Europe Foundation, collaborating on potential solutions during interactive sessions.
Aligned with GovStack principles, the workshop fostered cross-border learning and collaboration between Ukraine’s GovTech Lab, the GovStack community, German startups, and digital governance experts. It also offered European digital solution providers a chance to explore participation in the upcoming GovTech Lab Open Innovation Challenges focused on creating scalable digital solutions to solve real-world public sector needs.
Catalyzing Innovation and Cross-Border Collaboration in GovTech
The first session of the workshop, Catalyzing Public Innovation, was led by Kateryna Frolova, Head of Innovation Gateway at GGTC Kyiv, where she presented GovTech Lab UA programme, Ukraine’s first open innovation programme for a public sector, and the Ukrainian model of challenge-based acceleration of digital services, highlighting how Ukraine’s war resilience has shaped and sped up the digital transformation process. Andrea Donath, Project Lead at GovStack, GIZ, joined the session to discuss practical entry points for collaboration between European/German and Ukrainian GovTech ecosystems, academic institutions, and startups.
The workshop continued with a Fireside Chat featuring Michael Hübner, CEO of Kitsoft Deutschland GmbH, and Friederike Zelke, Partner Manager at VanillaCore GmbH and Digital Government Adviser for the ITU. The discussion explored how startups can effectively engage in public sector digital transformation by comparing experiences and lessons from Ukraine’s and Germany’s GovTech ecosystems. Participants examined opportunities and barriers for startup participation in building digital public infrastructure. By bringing perspectives from both Ukrainian and German contexts, the conversation aimed to strengthen cross-border GovTech collaboration and foster a more connected ecosystem that can inspire global approaches to digital governance.
Bridging Communities – Open Innovation Workshop
The third session, Bridging Communities – Open Innovation Workshop, brought participants together in an interactive co-creation format. Moderated by the London-based consultancy Public, GovStack and GGTC Kyiv, the workshop invited practitioners to collaborate in groups on challenges related to urban planning, automated legal assistance for citizens, and transparent tourism management. Using the GovStack Building Blocks methodology, they explored how to design and prototype technology solutions for the public good.They brainstormed ideas, mapped policy goals, identified constraints and risks, and pitched their solutions, fostering hands-on collaboration between Ukrainian and German innovators. The session fostered lively interaction, collaboration, and knowledge exchange between Ukrainian and German innovators, enabling participants to explore practical approaches to public sector digital transformation.
The workshop concluded with a discussion of key takeaways, potential collaboration points, and next steps for joint initiatives. The event highlighted the potential of cross-border cooperation in GovTech and reinforced the importance of open innovation in shaping the future of digital public services.
Innovators interested in contributing to Ukraine’s GovTech Lab Open Innovation Challenges are encouraged to apply by October 28, 2025 on the UpLink platform
Disclaimer:
GovTech Lab Ukraine is an open innovation program in government technology implemented by the Global Government Technology Centre Kyiv (GGTC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the World Economic Forum, and with the support of Switzerland within EGAP Program, which is carried out by East Europe Foundation. More information about the GovTech Lab programme can be found at https://www.kyivgovtechcentre.org/govtech-lab.
The Global Government Technology Centre (GGTC) in Kyiv became the second GovTech centre in the world after Berlin and the 21st Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in the World Economic Forum network. GGTC Kyiv is supported by Switzerland within EGAP Program, which is carried out by East Europe Foundation, and initiated by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the World Economic Forum.