In the pilot regions of Ukraine, the Unified Information System of the Social Sphere (ESIS) was launched, which will help to carry out the digital transformation of the social sphere, receive quality data and promptly provide services to Ukrainians. The introduction of a single system will allow to save the budget up to UAH 11 billion annually. This became known during a joint briefing of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine.

The biggest amount of money is spent to social sphere annually - more than UAH 700 billion. But it is difficult for the state to monitor whether this funding is used correct and whether the sums reach the target. According to preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance, 10-12% of all social benefits mean corruption.

"A Unified Information System of the social sphere is necessary both for every Ukrainian and for the state. ESIS will help to simplify the process of obtaining services for Ukrainians at most. It will no longer be needed to collect dozens of papers and wait for months for applications for subsidies or pensions to be considered. And it will allow the state to shape an effective social policy and monitor corruption risks," said Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.

Moreover, during the briefing the particpnats announced the most popular social services that will appear in the Diia - receiving subsidies, pensions and services for IDPs. Instead of going to the offices - one application submitted online on the Diia portal. The services will be available after the Diia Summit, which will take place soon.

The absence of the ESIS used to create several problems for the quality of social work. First, people had to carry stacks of photocopies of data that had already been included in the registers now. Second, the state did not have quality data, which significantly delayed the provision of services. Third, the lack of a single electronic register has given rise to corruption on various scales.

"The system we have showcased today is a real revolution in the field of social protection - administrative, financial, ideological. Its information core is the Unified Social Register, created instead of a dozen unrelated registers and information systems. For the first time in practice, we are implementing the principle of a single social window for everyone, convenient and free from corruption," said the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Maryna Lazebna.

The pilot version of the ESIS already operates in four territorial departments of social protection and five territorial communities of Kyiv and Zhytomyr regions. The system will be launched throughout Ukraine next year. Scaling the ESIS within the country will help Ukrainians to receive the necessary services quickly and reduce the time taken to provide them.

We thank the USAID/UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services/TAPAS Project implemented by the Eurasia Foundation for creating a system and establishing interactions with state registers.

We continue to work on the development of online services with the project "Digital, Inclusive, Accessible: Supporting the Digitization of Public Services in Ukraine" (Diia Support Project), implemented by UNDP with the support of Sweden in partnership with the EGAP Program of the Eastern Europe Foundation. The project is implemented by the Ministry of Social Policy together with the Ministry of Finance and the Pension Fund of Ukraine.