Digital transformation of regions and territorial communities of Ukraine: problems and ways to solve them

The article examines the challenges of digital transformation in Ukraine’s regions and territorial communities amid full-scale war and limited organizational and investment resources. The article identifies significant spatial digital divides between regions and territorial communities, as well as between regional centers and peripheral communities. Data from the Digital Transformation Index of the Regions of Ukraine for 2024–2025 reveal a polarization in digital development, and the “Digital Economy” sub-index is one of the index’s weakest components. The key problems of digitalization have been characterized, in particular: the destruction of digital infrastructure in frontline territories, residual financing of informatization in communities, communities’ low capacity to attract investment resources, a shortage of IT specialists, a deteriorating demographic situation, including changes in the age structure of the population of rural communities, and cybersecurity threats. The authors propose directions and tools to address these problems within Ukraine’s post-war recovery strategy. The authors argue that the digitalization of public administration and the digitalization of the economy are relatively autonomous processes that develop at different rates and with different effectiveness. The following directions for solving the identified problems have been proposed: state support for the development of digital infrastructure in mountainous and frontline territories, reducing the energy dependence of telecommunications, developing local digital education hubs, expanding the Trembita system and introducing standard digital solutions for communities, developing e-democracy tools, and supporting the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises through the Diia. Business network, regional IT clusters, and co-financing programs. Under wartime conditions, digitalization has proven to be a factor in regions’ security capacity and should be an integral part of Ukraine’s Recovery Plan and the strategy for integration into the EU Digital Single Market.