Association "IT Ukraine" presented a report for the first half of 2020

On July 14, the report of the Association “IT Ukraine” on the results of work in the main areas – GR, education, CSR and PR —  was presented.

The first half of 2020 turned out to be full of projects and partnerships because, with the start of quarantine, the association quickly transferred all activities into an online format. During this time, the association’s team has implemented 8 projects, held 6 events and joined 10 legislative initiatives and appeals to the authorities.

In the first half of 2020, the association’s team worked on the following projects:

• international: Ukraine House Davos: IT Panel and The Global Technology & Business Service Council;
• national: e-Maliatko, #AntiVirus, Mine Awareness VR and “You can do anything! The possibilities are endless!”;
• local: IT Law and ClickToSchool.

21 companies took an active part in the educational, social and educational projects of the association. Also during this period, the Association was joined by Beetroot, SPD-Ukraine, MGID, Wirex and FDI Ukraine and currently has 59 member companies, together representing the interests of 50 thousand IT specialists in Ukraine.

The Government Relations (GR) area also remains active. The Association participated in 24 meetings with officials and joined the development of 10 legislative initiatives since the beginning of 2020.

Work was actively carried out on the bill “Masks-show stop-3”, making suggestions and comments on the projects “Diia City” and the Law on Tax Reform №466 (bill №1210). The association also submitted several proposals to the authorities on anti-crisis measures for the IT industry, such as a ban on additional regulation, a moratorium on tax increases and inspections, and so on.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, anti-crisis laws also became urgent. Association took part  in the development/submission of the following proposals:

• Economic stimulus program to overcome the effects of COVID-19
• Laws on business support for the period of the COVID-19 epidemic.

All this time, active work was carried out in the educational area of the association. Since the beginning of 2020, the association has developed IT education within the following main projects: IT Law, Teachers Internship, “You can do anything! The possibilities are endless!” and a joint project with UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group to improve the material and technical base of profile IT-departments and faculties of universities.

The CSR area of the association in the first half of 2020 was marked by the implementation of projects #AntiVirus, e-Maliatko,  Mine Awareness VR and ClickToSchool. Thus, the team of the association together with member companies and partners provided numerous assistance to doctors and medical institutions within the #AntiVirus initiative, became technical partners of the state project e-Maliatko, developed a website for a specialized school for children with disabilities and is currently developing an interactive VR product to inform children in eastern Ukraine about the mine danger together with UNICEF.

Currently, the team is not only working on the above projects but is also preparing to launch new projects and initiatives. Among them are the launch of the international project “Export IT-Alliance” together with USAID, the study of the IT-market of Ukraine, the IT Awards 2020 competition in a new format and, of course, attracting new participants. Thus, Taras Kytsmey, President of the Association, co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of SoftServe, said that an important vector for the development of the association is to attract new members and, accordingly, strengthen the reputation of the Association “IT Ukraine”, which currently represents 30% of Ukraine’s IT market.