For some reason, we like to discuss the news: will there be subpoenas in «Diya» or not? Someone blurts out that there will be, then the Ministry of Digital Affairs comes out and says that it will never happen.
For some reason, we like to discuss the news: will there be subpoenas in «Diya» or not? Someone blurts out that there will be, then the Ministry of Digital Affairs comes out and says that it will never happen.
In my opinion, this is not at all fundamental. It’s unnecessary hype that makes no sense. Now I’ll try to explain why.
Our state is basically on a course for global digitalization. For a long time now. This happened when, after the elections, the political will for this appeared — to make a digital country. Therefore, it does not matter at all what the summonses will be sent through. The main thing is something else. They will sooner or later become digital, like all other documents. (The military ID card will suffer the same fate). And whether they will arrive in «Diya», in «Rezerv+», in Viber or in e-mail or in something else — that’s another matter.
Document digitization is a big plus globally. It makes any process: a) transparent, b) efficient, c) cheaper.
But at the same time, we must be ready for new challenges. I would say, the challenges of the era.
The fact is that total digitalization applies not only to the topic of military accounting, but also to many other areas of our lives.
Remember «Diya», its beginning. Yes, there were many victories, yes, there was skepticism. But the fact is a fact: 24 million accounts are all the modern adult population of the country has, 80%, I think. You can forget about the passport, as well as many other paper certificates.
We are moving along the path of a digital state much faster than the countries of the old world. We are far from Germany, or France, or Britain, which are still drowning in paper bureaucracy. Yes, we took on this burden, to be the first. And so we took on all the blows of the cyber world and scammers. The topic is very debatable. But it seems that at this stage we are in the plus.
I would say that the digital shift will affect several more fundamental areas of our lives. And this, for example, is finance. I think there will be no anonymity there. One of the most discussed at the moment is the actual abolition of banking secrecy for tax authorities.
This means that fiscal services will be able to obtain data on the movement of funds in the accounts of both individuals and entrepreneurs without court permission. Such changes are provided for in the National Revenue Strategy until 2030.
Our money has also been digitized over the past ten years. And cash has clearly receded into the background. But the state still does not have sufficient control in this area.
Of course, money is another of our freedoms. But it is also clear that this freedom is also used by not-so-good people, creating various digital schemes to launder dirty money.
Therefore, if there is political will, there will be more control. Pretty soon. I think there should be no doubt about it. I read somewhere that the ratio of the total amount of official payments in Ukraine to digital accounts and the volume of p2p transfers is approximately 1:3. The gray economy is huge, and almost all of it is now digital. Control, I would say, is minimal for now. Add to this crypto, for which a law has not yet been adopted, and it is in a gray area.
What would happen if the state (financial monitoring, NBU, tax) launched a powerful AI tool and analyzed all these p2p transfers? I think this would give us a lot of news about corruption scandals and more.
Will it ever happen? I think so, in one form or another it will happen in the next two or three years.
And the third digital sphere is where there will definitely be changes from the digital state. This is the Internet. Let’s say, the war with Russia simply forced the state to start regulating this sphere more strictly. I remember my thoughts about the Internet 10 years ago. Internet resources are absolute freedom within the framework of the law, I thought. Only if there is a court ruling, a resource could be blocked. And this restriction restrained the influence of the state on the free Internet. Yes, there were attempts to expand the powers of law enforcement agencies to block resources. But thanks to our journalistic activities, this did not happen.
Now are different times. There is a war going on. And of course the Internet is a tool of this war. If the authorities do not have access to its control, it will be difficult for them to fight. That is why access to the Runet was blocked in 2022, that is why the State Service for Special Communications has the authority to block sites without a court decision, but at the request of the special services. This was not a whim of the authorities, it was a necessity for survival.
Well, it’s simple. As they say, the main thing is not to overdo it. In other words, the instrument of influence in the hands of the state should not turn from an instrument of point benefit into an instrument of total control (and with it — influence).
And here — with the utmost caution. The line between protecting citizens and total control of citizens is really thin. This is a zone of fragile thin ice. I am not sure now that we will cross to the other shore dry. God forbid that I am wrong.
What happened to those who didn’t go over? We see this in the example of countries that have clearly been swayed to the dark side. North Korea, Iran. There is no freedom of the Internet, freedom of speech, financial and, in principle, legal freedom of citizens. There, citizens are a resource.
Russia is now tightening the screws and turning the Internet into a cheburnet (the penultimate cog in the walls of a digital concentration camp). Wow, it seems like we are seeing this in real time. Yes, it is really cool to watch. But no, I would not like something like this to happen again here, in our country.
Now we’re putting everything together. What we have: political will + availability of digital technologies has ensured our rapid takeoff. Less bureaucracy, fewer queues, fewer bribes. More free time for something new. This is on the one hand.
On the other hand, four years of full-scale digital state control have cemented it. And we are not yet at the final stage of this evolution, as you can guess from this column.
Government is both control and responsibility to society at the same time. But it depends only on it how it uses the new digital tools that have become available to it.
I would say this: from the point of view of digital state, everything has turned out well for us. In many processes, we are the first, we are more efficient. But we are on the verge of a perfect storm. There are many temptations and the levers are almost formed. So who knows what will emerge when it is over.
In the meantime, here’s a challenge for you: combine 4 things in your head: your digital document, your IP address, your bank account, and a powerful AI. Did you combine them? Did you twist them? Did they interact?
