Ukraine on Europe’s Digital Innovation Map
The side event, hosted by Diia.City Union and EIT Community Hub in Ukraine and supported by Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, EU4Innovation East, and AWS, will bring together 150 senior leaders from the innovation and tech sector, cloud infrastructure, government, and international development agencies to advance a practical agenda for Ukraine’s integration into the European innovation network.
Taking place within the framework of the Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026), the event frames Ukraine's recovery not only through reconstruction, but through innovation - technology, talent, and solutions tested in the most demanding operational conditions in Europe.
This event is included in the official program of Ukraine Recovery Conference.
The discussion will center on Ukraine's transition from a service-based IT model to an innovation-driven ecosystem of product and deep-tech companies, as well as practical pathways for joint technology development with European partners.
Agenda
16:00 – 16:10 | Opening Remarks:
Ihor Markevych, EIT Community Officer in Ukraine
Julien Schmitt, Director for the EU4Innovation East Project, Expertise France
16:10 – 16:30 | Fireside Chat: Ukraine's Path to the European Union
Taras Kachka, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
Moderator: Valeriia Kushnerchuk, Executive Director, Diia.City Union
16:30 – 17:20 | Panel discussion: Ukraine on Europe's Innovation Map
Moderator: Yehor Pyvovarov, Policy Officer for Research and Innovation at the EU Delegation to Ukraine.
Panelists:
Matthias Wyrwoll, Managing Director, Head of Official Institutions Advisory, BlackRock
Patrycja Sokalska-Pomacho, CEE Business Development Director, NVIDIA
Denis Gursky, Partner, 1991 Ventures
Charles Mathiaux, Deputy Director of the EU4Innovation East Project
17:20 – 18:20 | Panel discussion: Beyond Logos: Real Partnerships and Real Impact for Ukraine
Moderator: Valery Krasovsky, CEO and Co-Founder, Sigma Software Group; President of Diia.City Union
Panelists:
Oleksandr Komarov, President of Kyivstar
Jeff Bullwinkel, Vice President & Deputy General Counsel, Microsoft EMEA
Tetiana Lukyniuk, Country Director, Google Ukraine
Taras Kytsmey, Co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors at SoftServe
Gianni Romolo, CEE Expansion Director Amazon Web Services
18:20 – 18:30 | Interview: Japan–Ukraine Cooperation for Innovation and Recovery
Kotaro Tanaka, Director General, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Moderator: Ihor Markevych, EIT Community Officer in Ukraine
18:30 - 21:00 | Networking