Kharkiv, Ukraine, 25 July 2025 — The European Digital Innovation Hub (Eastern Ukraine EDIH) has been opened in Kharkiv to support local entrepreneurs and promote innovative business development. The hub is the latest of the Resilient Business Hubs created at the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, using financial support from the Government of Japan. 

Entrepreneurs, communities and public organizations from Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts will be able to receive support in forming action plans, training teams, finding funding, and implementing digital technologies. The hub opening event gathered more than 100 participants – representatives of micro, small and medium-sized businesses, the IT sector, scientific institutions, international partners, and city authorities.

During the opening, attendees discussed the key challenges of digitalization and ways to overcome them during the war. The services and opportunities available at the hub for business development were presented, and attendees also exchanged experience in the implementation of innovations, digital security, the use of modern IT solutions, and accessing donor and partner programmes.

Representatives of the Kharkiv City Council, UNDP in Ukraine, the Kharkiv IT Cluster, Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics, and companies that are already working with digital technologies shared their vision and practical cases.

Dmytro Davydyants, director of the Kharkiv Reform Office, said: “The idea of creating a hub arose in our institution. And was supported by the mayor, our partners, the IT cluster and specialized universities.”

“Digitalization is no longer a trend, but a prerequisite for the development of municipalities and businesses,” Davydyants added. “In this hub, city council departments and entrepreneurs will be able to receive support in developing digitalization roadmaps. We will help them analyse their needs and choose the best solutions – from IT systems, to specialized equipment for large enterprises.”

Olga Shapoval, Executive Director at Kharkiv IT Cluster, said: “The hub’s services are available thanks to donor support. In particular, the opening of this centre and its further functioning became possible thanks to the support of UNDP in Ukraine and the Government of Japan.”

“This project is complementary to the European Digital Innovation Hub, which is funded by the European Commission, one of our key partners on the path to Ukraine's European integration,” Shapoval added. 

Maksym Boroda, Project Manager for Economic Policy and Private Sector Development at UNDP in Ukraine, emphasized that the initiative focuses on digital transformation and combines the efforts of several partnership programmes.

“We focused on the digital transformation of the regions,” Boroda said. “And it’s very nice that there is a merger with other international technical assistance projects, in particular those funded by the European Commission. With the support of the Japanese government, we have achieved synergy. By the end of the year, we plan to open another hub, this time with a technological focus.”

Background:

In total, in 2025, 10 hubs have already been opened in several regions of Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Volyn, and Vinnytsia). They cover different areas: from coworking in a shelter with uninterrupted access to electricity, to a digital transformation centre in Kharkiv. 

The initiative was implemented within the framework of the Eastern Ukraine EDIH 2025 project, funded by the Government of Japan and implemented by UNDP in Ukraine as part of the “Transformational Recovery for Human Security in Ukraine” project. It complements the activities of the “Empowering Sustainable Digital and Green Transformation in Key Economic Sectors of Eastern Ukraine (Eastern Ukraine EDIH)” project, which is co-funded by the European Union under the Digital Europe Programme.

Media enquiries:

Yuliia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Team Leader, yuliia.samus@undp.org