The Ukraine war has begun. This Thursday, February 24, Russia has begun the invasion of the European country after weeks of tension. It seemed that there might be a way to avoid a war, but the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ended all hopes of peace. While thousands of Ukrainians are trying to flee the country, NGOs are starting to pull together all possible efforts.
In this context, a new project has been born to support non-governmental organizations in the midst of the war in Ukraine. The Tech to the Rescue group has launchedtheir Tech for Ukraine project, in which they encourage companies to offer their knowledge and infrastructure to improve the technological capacity of NGOs.
“Ukrainian NGOs need technological support to build resilience and strengthen civil society,” they point out on the website. The Euromaidan was the beginning of the conflict in 2013 and since then the civil infrastructure has been greatly weakened; especially in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, taken over since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists. After 9 years of conflict, the start of the war in Ukraine may further limit technological resources.
“NGOs are at the heart of civil society in Ukraine. While the age of digitization has come, charities are still far behind private companies and state institutions. Weak security systems, outdated software and the lack of user-friendly UI and UX make it difficult to function.”
The projects include initiatives such as improving cybersecurity, increasing the security of messaging services or facilitating donations. Companies interested in helping contact the organization to inform them of their area of expertise. Tech for Ukraine answers with a list of projects that could be interesting for the company. If they can agree, a contract is signed in which the company agrees to help without profit or for a small fee.
Technological profiles against the war in Ukraine
On Reddit, the initiative has already been shared and some users have asked if they can help after the start of the Ukraine war; even though they are not part of a company that contacts Tech for Ukraine. For now, the only thing they can do is inform about their area of expertise and ask to be contacted if it can be of help. “If an existing team reading this needs a visual UX/UI designer, please PM me,” writes one of the users.
Beyond Tech for Ukraine, the organization has carried out other similar projects to bring technological resources to the social field. It is, for now, unknown how Tech to the Rescue initiatives can help the population in the midst of armed conflict. Hipertextual has contacted the group to have more details about the projects they offer to companies in the context of the war in Ukraine and which of them are already being put into practice.
