Secret project and plans for subpoenas through "action". The main thing from Fedorov's interview with Babel

Whether subpoenas will be sent out through "Diya", what happens with foreign business trips of IT specialists and how the training of fighters of the"army of drones" takes place. Babel spent the day with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of digital transformation Mikhail Fedorov. We present the main theses of Fedorov from the material.

The role of the English language in Ukraine wants to change

Coming soon on the platform " Diya.Digital education " with the help of educational series and online lessons, you will be able to take various courses, get a certificate and immediately apply for vacancies in your region. Negotiations on partnership with the largest job search portals in the Ministry of Digital Development have already been held.

Also on the platform, and later in the app, there will be courses in English, and a test for the level of its knowledge will be added.

Fedorov admits that the Ministry of digital development is engaged in a secret project ― they want to introduce English in Ukraine as a full-fledged second language, but not the state language, but for business communication. This is a task from the president. Fedorov does not disclose the details of the project, but it is planned to launch it next year. The goal is pragmatic: the Ministry of Digital Development analyzed the countries that prioritized learning English — all showed GDP growth.

The portal " Diya.Business". It will also be restructured and its design will be changed: the problem is that the portal has grown, there are a lot of services there, and users are lost.

About the outflow of clients from IT companies and foreign business trips of IT specialists

Because of the war, international customers are afraid to cooperate with Ukrainians. Fedorov says that there is such a problem, but the figures are still optimistic. In the first half of the year, the Ukrainian IT market grew by 23% (compared to the same period in 2021).

As for foreign business trips of IT specialists, back in June, Fedorov's Deputy Alexander Bornyakov said that employees of the IT industry who are liable for military service may be allowed to travel abroad for a certain period. The relevant decision was supposed to be made by the government, but so far it has not done so.

"We are waiting for the signing," says Fedorov. He admits that because of this delay, he himself stopped going on business trips abroad ― he is embarrassed.

About the "army of drones", mortgages for the military and subpoenas through "action"

For the" army of drones " in general, they plan to train more than 2 thousand drone operators. More than a thousand drones worth more than UAH 2 billion have already been contracted. The Ministry of Digital Development calculated that to provide the entire front line, you need about 10 thousand small drones and 250 long-range ones.

"We want to create an IT system that will record that a fighter has been trained here, performs this and that, and here are his results with a drone. Then we will understand which school teaches at what level. To build a database and effectively make managerial decisions about who to help and who not to help," says Fedorov.

The ministry is also working on mortgages for the military. Subsequently, this option will be available to doctors and teachers.

"Just imagine, you want to buy an apartment with a mortgage, go to "action", click "Get a mortgage" ― and your application to the bank is formed, or you can have several. After that, they send you a response about the terms and interest. And there are no calls, humiliations, questions about how much you earn. I think we will launch it at the end of October, and it will be a technological revolution for us," says Fedorov.

They do not plan to send subpoenas through Diya, as well as take people to the military register through this system. According to the minister, the Armed Forces of Ukraine should be approached more systematically and transparently to answer the question of what the army is, how to get to it and where exactly, what tasks.

"After all, for people, the army is mostly about the fact that I will now get "to the front" and they will shoot at me there, and if you explain to them what's what, and properly pack the Army as a product ― in the directions, how mobilization takes place, training, when you can get to the front, and so on. And then people will be registered responsibly, understand and know their rights. We offered this vision to the Ministry of Defense, and I hope that we will be able to implement it with the Ministry of Defense, I think it will be cool," he says.

About Starlink terminals for Ukraine

Fedorov does not tell what exactly the Ministry of Digital Development helps the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the surface are Starlink terminals, which the minister has wanted to get since the creation of the ministry. He says that in all regulators, departments and relevant bodies he was told that in Ukraine the terminals will not work ― it is expensive, the wrong transmission channel, poor communication, and so on.

Fedorov sent letters to Elon Musk's SpaceX, but no one answered him. In the end, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova managed to contact the minister with the company's management. Three days before the full-scale invasion, Fedorov urged them to enter Ukraine.

"I assured them that they will get a license in record time. I will be your nanny, father, and mother, and I will personally control everything, just come in," recalls Fedorov.

On February twenty-sixth, he tweeted where he asked Musk to provide Starlink, who replied that they were on their way.

"After that, they opened Ukraine as a geolocation without a license, without anything. We gave everything then and started receiving Starlink from the European Union and international partners," says Fedorov.