Оn 26 March 2025, the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv hosted a roundtable discussion on Science, Data and Innovation for Recovery, European Integration and Sustainable Development of Communities. The event brought together more than 100 participants from government officials, academia, local governments, think tanks and NGOs.
The event was organised by the Centre for Innovation Development in cooperation with Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Science Park of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Lviv Polytechnic National University, Dolishnyi Institute of Regional Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Drohobych City Institute and NGO Innovation University.
The event was aimed at establishing effective interaction between authorities, scientists and communities to implement innovations, digital solutions and analytical approaches in the processes of recovery, European integration and sustainable development.
Hryhoriy Mozolevych, Director General of the Directorate for Science Development of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, and Arsen Makarchuk , Head of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, stressed in their speeches that decision-making should be based on data, both at the national and local levels, especially in the context of recovery and European integration.
“As a think tank, we strive to develop ecosystems that bring together scientists, analysts, representatives of communities, business and government. It is through this synergy that data-driven governance can become an everyday practice and a foundation for effective strategic development and community recovery. We have a lot of tasks ahead of us, and it is impossible to solve them on our own. That is why we are creating a common space for open dialogue, exchange of experience and development of joint effective solutions”, said Kateryna Ivanchenko, Director of the Centre for Innovation Development.
The participants paid special attention to the practical experience of Lviv Oblast in implementing local open data portals and statistics systems. Maksym Stoliarchuk, Head of the Digital Development Department of the Lviv Oblast State Administration, presented the Lviv Oblast Open Data Portal and the Municipal Statistics Portal, emphasising the importance of training communities to work with data.
Mykhailo Leichenko, Director of IT and Analytics at the Innovation Development Centre, said:
“Data-driven governance is not about services, it is about responsibility. Data shows where the community really is and helps to make complex but accurate decisions.”
According to him, modern analytics should become as much a part of the community’s work as accounting or property records, and universities should become development partners, not just educational institutions.
The event confirmed that Ukraine has a powerful intellectual and managerial resource to implement data-driven solutions. At the same time, the foundations need to be laid for scaling up practices: a legal framework, an infrastructure for data collection and exchange, and a culture of cross-sectoral cooperation.