Ukraine’s non-government organizations are more than advocacy groups; they are policy drivers, watchdogs and innovators shaping the state’s future. NGOs in Ukraine play a significant role in shaping public policies, especially in governance, anti-corruption, digital transformation and social policy. According to the Info Sapiens survey, in 2024, the most common areas of Ukrainian NGO activity were education (32%), culture (22%), and assistance to the defense forces (21%). 

GGTC Kyiv has established a strategic collaboration with the Vox Ukraine thin tank, working on two major projects: the Reform Index and VoxCheck. What impact will this partnership have on the future of GovTech in Ukraine? 

Vox Ukraine is an eminent think tank founded in 2014 by a group of economists and lawyers in Ukraine and abroad. Its main goal is to foster economic debate and provide high-quality analysis of Ukraine's most important processes. With more than five in-depth analytical initiatives, VoxUkraine rigorously investigates societal trends and governmental performance, exposes disinformation and manipulative narratives, evaluates reform trajectories, and harnesses scientific approaches to drive innovations and systemic changes. For instance, in 2024, VoxUkraine held 12 events, published above 237 articles and engaged more than 15 million users.

After the full-scale russian invasion into Ukraine, the fight against the russian disinformation became a priority of VoxUkraine. As part of this effort, VoxUkraine conducts ongoing media monitoring and analytical research, including Propaganda Diary, a database of russian disinformation narratives that monitors media in six countries (Germany, Italy, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary) to track disinformation about Ukraine since February 24, 2022. Another initiative is a study on the network of Russian propaganda, conducted in collaboration with the Center for Countering Disinformation, which reveals connections between Western «experts» who amplify kremlin-friendly narratives. 

The main goal of this collaboration is to combine efforts to develop robust analytical tools to track legislative dynamics in digital transformation, public innovation, and global propaganda against Ukraine. Let’s dive into the projects in detail. 

The first project, the Reform Index, was created in 2015 and aims to quantify the progress of economic and social reforms in Ukraine. The Index structure contains six main pillars: 1/ Governance, 2/ Public Finance, 3/ Monetary System, 4/ Business Environment, 5/ Energy Sector, and 6/ Human Capital. At the same time, each domain includes other areas of monitoring. According to the designed methodology, the method to evaluate progress and/or regress is an expert assessment. 

As digital transformation and public innovation influence every sector, GGTC Kyiv partners with VoxUkraine to embed digital and innovation-driven components into each Index pillar, systematically gathering expert insights on key reforms. The derived scores will provide actionable insights for members of parliament, civil servants, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders.

The second project is the VoxCheck, an independent fact-checking initiative committed to debunking falsehoods, manipulations, myths, and propaganda. To date, the team has uncovered approximately 27 instances of propaganda narratives. Notably, in 2018, VoxCheck became a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Ethics at the Poynter Institute. In 2020, it became a Meta partner in countering misinformation across Facebook and Instagram. Today, the VoxCheck database includes more than 9,000 statements by politicians and more than 5,400 refuted fakes.

The cooperation between GGTC Kyiv and VoxUkraine will focus on researching and refuting global disinformation about digitalization, government technologies and public innovation in Ukraine. Fact-based analytics will help shape the truthful public image of this area and increase people's digital literacy. 

Ukraine remains committed to strengthening NGO collaboration to drive national policy advancements in digital transformation, public technologies, and innovation. Stay tuned for forthcoming analytical findings ✨

*Projects will be implemented within the officially signed memorandum between the GGTC Kyiv and VoxUkraine.