eDumka in Diia: new digital service for resident participation in hromada life

In Ukraine, an experimental service, eDumka, is being launched on the Diia portal – a digital tool that will help residents interact more easily with local authorities: submit proposals, support others' initiatives, participate in polls, and receive feedback online. East Europe Foundation contributed to the creation of eDumka within EGAP Program.

East Europe Foundation has been implementing civic participation tools in Ukraine since 2013. One of the key areas of this work is the e-DEM platform, whose tools are used by over 2 million people, with 660 local self-government bodies connected to the platform itself. Over this time, the team has accumulated significant experience working with hromadas and an understanding of what both sides need – both residents and local authorities. One of the key requests is regular and simple communication, the ability to quickly report a problem or suggest a solution, and, equally importantly, to receive a meaningful response regarding what is happening with the request.

This very experience was taken into account when working on eDumka. The new service aims to create a modern digital interaction channel between residents and local authorities, where users can not only express their position but also see the response to it. At the same time, local self-government bodies and military administrations will be able to better understand people's needs, see the level of support for various proposals, conduct polls, and receive feedback faster.

Through eDumka, users will be able to:

• submit proposals on matters of local importance and track the status of their consideration;
• view, discuss, and support the initiatives of other people;
• rate responses from officials;
• participate in polls conducted by local authorities.

Influencing the resolution of local issues will be possible not only for people with a registered place of residence in the hromada, but also for those who have another verified connection to it. This concerns people who have IDP status, real estate ownership, pay local taxes, or study full-time at a local educational institution. Affiliation is verified automatically – based on data from state registers, without certificates or visits to institutions.

The experimental project will last two years. The full functionality of the service is planned to be implemented over the next six months. In the first stage, eDumka will become fully operational in Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zaporizhzhia, Ternopil, and Kharkiv Oblasts. Other local self-government bodies and military administrations will be able to join the experiment voluntarily.

eDumka continues East Europe Foundation's many years of work on developing e-democracy tools in Ukraine. Its task is to make interaction between residents and local authorities simpler and faster, and people's needs and proposals more visible to decision-makers in hromadas.

The experimental project is being created with support from Switzerland within EGAP Program, implemented by East Europe Foundation.