# GovTech Takes Centre Stage at Davos 2026: First GovTech Day under Ukraine’s leadership Davos, Switzerland | 21 January 2026 – Ukraine House Davos hosted the first-ever GovTech Day at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2026, bringing digital governance into the global spotlight under the global theme “A Spirit of Dialogue”. As the global GovTech market is projected to exceed USD 1.4 trillion by 2034, according to World Economic Forum estimates, the event reflected a structural shift in governance, from digitising services to building agentic, AI-enabled, citizen-centred, trust-based states. Organised by the two WEF-led Global Government Technology Centres in Kyiv (GGTC Kyiv) and Berlin (GGTC Berlin), the GovTech Day brought together senior policymakers and digital ministers from Singapore, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, global technology leaders from Capgemini, IBM, Microsoft innovators, and multilateral stakeholders to explore how governments worldwide are redefining governance in the era of emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, and geopolitical change. ## Why GovTech? With global government IT spending exceeding USD 606 billion in 2025, as highlighted in the newly released joint report “GovTech Investment Trends: An Overview” by Deloitte Ukraine and GGTC Kyiv, GovTech has evolved from a promising frontier into an operational necessity for governments worldwide. As stakes rise, assessing public value by institutionalising impact measurement is increasingly central to GovTech investment decisions: funding is prioritised for areas where outcomes can be quantified and demonstrated with data and returns on investment. As governments seek to unlock public value at scale, Agentic AI emerged in 2025 as a defining technological shift. A substantial share of public-sector work is built around codified, repeatable workflows: processing applications, determining eligibility, issuing permits, monitoring compliance. These structured processes are precisely where agentic AI holds transformative potential – moving beyond decision support to execution.To manage and process an increasingly complex workflow of digital services and avoid fragmented IT systems, governments are converging toward a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) model as a foundation of an “Agentic State” – with Ukraine among the first countries to pioneer this model under real-world conditions at scale. ## Ukraine’s Model of Digital State In his keynote, former First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov (2019 – January 2026), Minister of Defence of Ukraine, highlighted Ukraine’s AI-enabled, citizen-centred “Agentic State” model, anchored in the Diia digital super-app. Today, the Diia app provides 77 public services and 33 digital documents, including digital passports (ID cards), electronic signatures, and the ability to register a marriage online. The app is used by almost 24 million Ukrainians. The Diia portal hosts over 6.3 million user accounts and offers more than 165 services. Its national, world’s first AI assistant for government services, Diia.AI, guides citizens through public services via chat. It has already helped over 180,000 Ukrainians and issued over 5,000 income certificates. Recognised as Europe’s leading GovTech solution for citizens, Diia.AI received the European Commission’s Best Cases Award 2025.Ukraine’s progress is reflected in international rankings. By 2024, Ukraine ranked 30th globally in the UN e-Government Development Index (EGDI), climbing 16 positions in two years. It also rose to 5th place in the Online Services Index (OSI), up from 102nd in 2018, and achieved 1st place in the E-Participation Index, rising 56 positions since 2022. In 2025, international recognition of this progress was solidified by Ukraine’s inclusion in Group A – the GovTech leaders – within the World Bank’s GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI). Furthermore, Ukraine climbed 14 spots in the global AI rankings, now placing 40th out of 195 countries.As Victor Liakh, President of the East Europe Foundation, notes, these results reflect far more than improvements in rankings alone Ukraine’s international partners also support this vision. In particular, Jacques Gerber, Federal Council Delegate for Ukraine, emphasizes: ## Global Panel Discussions on Next-Generation Governance The panel discussion “From Digital to Agentic State: A New Paradigm for Governance” featured a dynamic conversation between Josephine Teo (Minister for Digital Development and Information of Singapore), H.E. Mohamed Bin Taliah (Chief of Government Services, Government of the UAE), and Erkki Keldo (Minister of Economic Affairs and Industry of Estonia). The session was moderated by Andrew Caruana Galizia, Head of Europe and Eurasia at the World Economic Forum.The conversation was inspired by Ukraine’s vision of an AI-empowered “Agentic State,” a model grounded in trust, resilience, and democratic values. Panellists agreed that the transition to agentic states requires a fundamental redefinition of public accountability, as governments move from overseeing human decision-makers to governing autonomous systems embedded in core state functions. Led by the Head of Europe and Eurasia at the World Economic Forum, the discussion highlighted how international institutions can translate fragmented national digital efforts into shared standards, interoperable systems and scalable models. Panelists also examined how a model of the Agentic State can remain ethical and interoperable, balancing AI-driven efficiency with public trust. The ministers drew from their respective national experiences:Estonia’s approach to AI legislation and cross-border AI-based services to enable resilient, cooperative governance;Singapore’s transition from foundational digital identity tools like Singpass to AI “teammates” embedded in social assistance and business licensing;The UAE’s “Zero Bureaucracy” program, which eliminates unnecessary procedures through proactive, data-driven services and high AI adoption. While governments are increasingly reclaiming leadership over digital public services, much of the underlying technology remains developed by the private sector. This reality is transforming public–private collaboration from transactional procurement to long-term, co-shaping partnerships. ## Global Panel Discussion on Strategic Public–Private GovTech Partnerships The panel “A Strategic Public–Private Framework for GovTech Partnerships” convened global technology leaders and policymakers to explore how next-generation public–private partnerships can deliver digital governance at scale. Moderated by Robyn Scott, co-founder and CEO of Apolitical, The discussion featured Marc Reinhardt (Global Public Sector Leader at Capgemini), Victor Liakh (President of East Europe Foundation), Mike Harney (Vice President, Government and Regulatory Affairs at IBM), and Paul Lorimer (Corporate Vice President, Enterprise and Cloud, Microsoft).The conversation highlighted the evolving role of public–private collaboration in shaping resilient, citizen-centered digital states, drawing lessons from Ukraine’s experience as a global reference for innovation, rapid implementation, and cross-sector cooperation. Panelists discussed how governments can balance digital sovereignty with strategic partnerships, ensuring that private-sector expertise drives innovation while governments maintain control, accountability, and public trust, and how companies can act as strategic partners rather than vendors. Speakers shared concrete examples of successful collaboration: Capgemini’s role in orchestrating public–private engagement through the Global GovTech Centre in Berlin;East Europe Foundation’s extensive experience of implementing major PPP projects, including over 60 digital services such as the Diia.Engine and Diia.EducationIBM’s experience in trusted hybrid digital and AI architectures that balance data control, risk management, and innovation at scale;Microsoft’s experience in scaling GovTech pilots into platforms by defining clear roles across the digital stack and fostering long-term strategic partnerships;Panelists also reflected on how public–private frameworks can deliver societal outcomes at speed and scale, and under pressure, from large-scale GenAI deployments to cross-sector innovation in public services.The discussion emphasised practical lessons for building next-generation GovTech partnerships, including structuring legal and policy frameworks for trust, fostering ecosystem-wide co-creation, and scaling innovation while maintaining accountability and democratic oversight. ## Strategic Discussions on the State and Technology Reflecting broader debates at WEF 2026, in the public dialogue “The Return of the State: Technology as Geopolitical Arena” GovTech Day addressed the re-emergence of the state as a proactive shaper of technology, including AI regulation, digital sovereignty, industrial policy, and global standards. Led by GGTC Berlin, sessions highlighted how governments are asserting influence while delivering citizen-centred, accountable digital services. ## Exclusive GovTech Investment Trends Report Launch In conjunction with the event, Deloitte Ukraine and the Global Government Technology Centre Kyiv (GGTC Kyiv) released the report “GovTech Investment Trends: An Overview”, the first comprehensive global analysis of public-sector digital investments. The report covers AI, cloud infrastructure, smart cities, software & IT services, and digital public infrastructure such as eID, payments, and registries.The findings confirm that the public sector has become one of the key drivers of the global IT market. Notably, government spending is increasingly shifting away from standalone hardware or software licenses toward services. According to Gartner estimates nearly 75% of public-sector IT spending is concentrated across four core categories: IT services (39%), application software (13.1%), infrastructure software (11.4%), and internal IT services (11.2%). This shift reflects a broader transformation in government procurement models: increasingly, governments are not purchasing products, but outcomes - such as system integration, operation, management, cloud capacity, and ongoing support - delivered through comprehensive contracts and longer-term partnerships. For the GovTech ecosystem, this translates into a growing role for service delivery models, system integrators, managed services, and cloud-based solutions in scaling digital public services.Fueling this evolution, the report identifies the primary architects of these investments as supranational institutions, multilateral development banks, national governments, and local authorities.The report also highlights the need to institutionalize public value. GovTech economic impact must be reflected in metrics: time saved for citizens, fiscal savings and revenue gains for governments, and losses avoided through fraud prevention and cybersecurity. Without this, digitalization risks becoming a collection of projects rather than a driver of sustainable growth. ## About GovTech Day GovTech Day is a high-level public event held during the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2026 and hosted at Ukraine House Davos. The event is organised by the Global Government Technology Centre (GGTC) Kyiv in partnership with the Global Government Technology Centre (GGTC) Berlin, with the support of the Government of Switzerland within the E-Governance for Accountability and Participation (EGAP) program, East Europe Foundation and Visa.GovTech Day brings together senior policymakers, digital ministers, technology leaders, innovators, and multilateral stakeholders from across the world to explore how governments are redefining governance in the 21st century. Drawing on diverse international perspectives — including experiences from Singapore, Estonia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and Ukraine — the event fosters a global dialogue on the evolving role of the state in an era shaped by emerging technologies, digital transformation, AI, and geopolitical change. It serves as a platform for strategic exchange, partnership-building, and forward-looking discussion on the GovTech trends shaping governance worldwide. ## About GGTC Kyiv 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.