Yesterday, the Steering Group of the IT Coalition led by Estonia, Luxembourg and Ukraine convened for the first time to discuss short and long-term goals that would help Ukraine win the war as quickly as possible with the support of information and communication technologies. Ten countries have joined the IT Coalition: Estonia, Luxembourg, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland and Italy. Total national contributions so far amount to approximately 30 million euros. Estonia’s contribution to the IT Coalition so far is 500,000 euros. At the Steering Group meeting, it was also decided to launch the first procurements for Ukraine’s most urgent needs, to be implemented through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).
„The last NATO Summit in Vilnius expressed clearly that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. Leading the IT Coalition and within it supporting the Ukrainian Armed Forces towards compliance with corresponding NATO standards is one way in which Estonia can help Ukraine towards NATO accession. The aim of the Steering Group meeting was to set a common vision for the IT Coalition priorities and next steps, and how we can support the Armed Forces and Ministry of Defence of Ukraine,” said Tuuli Duneton, Undersecretary for Defence Policy at the Ministry of Defence.
"We are grateful to all the partners who have already joined this important initiative. We hope that the circle of IT Coalition participants will expand. Our experience in applying IT and innovation on the battlefield is unique, and we believe that the IT Coalition can become a platform for interaction with our partners for the development and testing of technologies," said Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitization Katerina Chernohorenko.
The IT Coalition was set up in September 2023 at the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Ramstein to support the defence forces and the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine in the field of information and communication technologies and to contribute to Ukraine’s combat capability. The steering group meeting was also attended by representatives from Germany, Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, NATO and the European Union.