The Transparent Cities program assessed whether city councils have ensured proper access to e-services for their communities—specifically, whether a “single point of entry” for electronic services exists on municipal websites.

The findings show that only 18 out of 50 cities have a dedicated specialized website or a clearly defined section on their official website that aggregates correct links to seven or more up-to-date electronic services. Among 19 regional capitals, only nine demonstrated an understanding that user needs should be at the core of digital design: Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kropyvnytskyi, Lutsk, Rivne, Uzhhorod, and Khmelnytskyi.

The term "electronic services" can cover a very wide range of online resources—from simple informational websites to large-scale platforms with millions of users each month (social networks, content-sharing platforms, app stores, online marketplaces, etc.). In this study, however, the scope was deliberately narrowed. Analysts examined whether city councils provide access to services that function as interactive elements embedded in websites (interactive maps, dashboards, web forms) or as standalone interactive online services (primarily information and analytical systems, mobile applications, and chatbots). In other words, the focus was not on access to informational content, but on the availability of functional tools for interacting with data and performing concrete actions.

The assessment did not assume that all services must be developed at the initiative or expense of local self-government bodies. Over recent years, central executive authorities, businesses, civil society organizations, and charitable foundations have launched dozens of interactive online services. Therefore, the analysis allowed for the fact that city councils may simply facilitate citizen access to solutions created through state funding, private investment, or international grants.

After analyzing the websites of 50 of Ukraine’s most populous cities*experts concluded that only 18 city councils provide a European-style, user-oriented level of access to a sufficient number of up-to-date electronic services.

Two regional capitals offer access through separate specialized websites: Ivano-Frankivsk SMARTCity (operating since 2014) and Digital Zaporizhzhia (launched in 2025)  In addition to the option of using this resource, the Ivano-Frankivsk City Council offers another way to learn about all available services: the homepage of the official website features a “City Services” section.

Twelve city councils provide convenient access through dedicated thematic sections or pages on their official websites. The E-City section on the Kalush City Council website and Electronic Services on the Zhytomyr City Council website are highlighted as best-practice examples.

The analysts also noted the implementation of a point of entry for electronic services on the official websites of Drohobych, Korosten, Okhtyrka, and Stryi. These websites were developed by the same contractor; as a result, each features a distinct “Smart City” item in the main navigation menu. Clicking this menu item leads users to a “Smart City Services and Tools Catalogue” recommended for use by the city council.

Dnipro’s section is titled “Services for Residents”, which slightly narrows the perceived scope. A broader title—“Services and Tools for Residents”—would more likely have included links to the City Council Documents, Dnipro Open Data Portal, Participatory Budget, the eDnipro mobile app, and other existing services.

City councils of Kryvyi Rih and Rivne provide access via thematic blocks on their homepages. Two additional municipalities consider the main navigation menu of the official website to be the most convenient access point, listing electronic services as selectable options: in Kovel, they are grouped under the “For Residents” menu, while in Kolomyia they appear under “E-City”.

As for the remaining 32 municipalities, for a wide range of reasons they did not qualify as local self-government bodies that provide a single point of entry to up-to-date online services.

11 city councils made no effort at all to aggregate useful links for residents: Boryspil, Brovary, Horishni Plavni, Izmail, Irpin, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Konotop, Nizhyn, Oleksandriia, Pavlohrad, and Pervomaisk.

City councils of Berdychiv, Vinnytsia, Kremenchuk, Lviv, Samar, Smila, and Kharkiv made partial attempts, but their lists were either too limited or contained outdated links. Kharkiv, for example, offers both an “Electronic City” block on the homepage and a Kharkiv City Electronic Services Portal, but not all links are functional, and the portal focuses on online services rather than interactive tools.

Sumy, Cherkasy, and Chornomorsk group informational content and services together under sections like “City Services” or “Information and Services.” This is a case where website developers proposed that city councils combine links to both informational content and online services within a single block, and the city councils agreed to this approach.

In 10 other cities, there are only indications that attempts were made to create a section or page listing electronic services. On the homepages of their official websites, this takes the form of unnamed blocks or blocks titled “Important Links” or “Useful Links”, where occasional references to certain online services can be found.

This is the case in Kyiv. As of November 2025, no other source of information on current online services could be identified apart from the Kyiv Services Portal. The homepage of this portal contains links to four services: Kyiv Sport, Kyiv Guide, Safe Sky, and the Kyiv Digital mobile application. Given that the websites of Kyiv City State Administration departments and Kyiv’s municipal enterprises contain references to dozens of information and analytical systems, mobile applications, interactive maps, and interactive dashboards, this situation can be regarded as merely an indication of an attempt to establish a single point of entry for electronic services.

Recommendations for local self-government bodies

To align local practice with the European approach to publishing and structuring digital services, city councils are encouraged to take the following steps:

1. Review the results of the electronic services ecosystem assessment under the European Cities Index.
2. Conduct an inventory of all existing in-house online services, bearing in mind that such services must provide access to functionality that enables interaction with data and the performance of specific actions, rather than merely offering informational content (for example, the public dashboards on the Kyiv City State Administration website or the healthcare facilities map on the Kyiv Health Portal qualify as online services, whereas the KCSA website itself or the website of the KCSA Department of Health do not).
3. Include in the inventory relevant services provided by the state (e.g. Open Budget and the Social Policy Ministry’s Social Portal), businesses (e.g. DozoR City or EasyWay), and civil society or charitable organizations (e.g. EDEM: Local Petitions or e-Liky).
4. If the number of electronic services is substantial, they should be grouped by theme—such as safety, budget, education, healthcare, transport, urban amenities, administrative services, or e-democracy. If the number of services is limited, they may instead be grouped by territorial level: national (e.g. DREAM), regional (e.g. an interactive regional map of civil protection shelters), or local (e.g. the City Contact Center mobile application).
5. Based on the outcomes of steps 1–4, a dedicated section on electronic services should be created on the official city council website. Particular attention should be paid to ensuring that all service links are current and functional. When referring to national-level services, provide specific links to them (for example, in the case of Open Budget or DREAM, link not to the services’ homepages but to the relevant community profiles within those platforms).
6. Do not avoid duplicating information about individual services across different LSGB information resources (for example, links to the e-Liky service—provided that municipal hospitals and clinics update data there—should be available both in the Electronic Services section of the official city council website and on the website or page of the Department of Health).

As the level of government closest to communities, city councils are responsible for delivering a wide range of essential public services in such key areas as healthcare, public transport, urban amenities, housing and utility services, social protection, and administrative services; accordingly, their impact on the development of electronic services must be strong and long-term. However, they must not only initiate the development of such services but also make them as accessible as possible for citizens by consolidating service listings and continuously monitoring the relevance of services and the accuracy of links.

* The sample included the 50 most populous cities in Ukraine based on mobile operator data, excluding Ternopil, which was removed from the study due to identified cases of data falsification on the official city council website and an inadequate official response.