The Transparent Cities program is aimed at increasing the level of transparency and accountability of cities, as well as establishing an effective dialogue between the authorities and society. We are interested in spreading information about the best practices of openness of local authorities and launching new digital services that not only make cities more transparent and accountable, but also simplify the lives of citizens. So, what's been interesting in the regions over the past couple of weeks?

Financial assistance for the modernization of the administrative service centers (ASC) for 165 communities

The government approved the allocation of UAH 231 mln of subventions from the state budget to local budgets for the development of the ASC network.

A total of 165 communities will receive financial assistance:

• 24 communities without ASCs will receive UAH 56.2 mln for construction and UAH 4.9 mln for equipment.
• 19 communities that are transforming the ASC of the district state administration into the ASC of the local self-government body will receive UAH 45.4 mln for construction and UAH 5.4 mln for equipment.
• 122 communities seeking to improve and modernize the ASC will receive UAH 81.3 mln for construction, reconstruction, or major repairs and UAH 37.8 mln for new equipment.

Development of Regional Entrepreneur Support Centers Diia.Business

In Odesa, on May 11, the Entrepreneur Support Centers Diia.Business started working. Odesa has become the fifth city in Ukraine to launch such a center. In the centers for entrepreneurs, the following is available:

• free consultations on marketing, sales, taxation, legal issues, fundraising, and transitioning business online
• educational events for developing your own business
• product testing before entering the market
• location rental and co-working space for small and medium-sized business support associations and business support organizations
• exchanging experience with other entrepreneurs
• establishing new business connections, finding investments for the business.

Similar centers are already operating in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, and Cherkasy. Plans include launching centers in Uzhhorod, Bucha, Kryvyi Rih, Poltava, Lviv, and Kremenchuk.

Kyiv. Improving the review of electronic petitions

Kyiv plans to improve the procedure for reviewing and implementing electronic petitions and integrate the portal of electronic petitions of the Kyiv City Council into the Diia application. The purpose of this decision is to reduce the number of signatures required to support an electronic petition — from 10,000 to 6,000. It is also proposed to reduce the voting time to 60 calendar days at a rate of 100 signatures per calendar day. Now it is necessary to collect 10,000 signatures in 90 days.

There are plans to integrate the portal of electronic petitions of the Kyiv City Council into the Diia application.

Vinnytsia. The launch of the municipal innovation center project

A large-scale reconstruction of the Innovation and Technology Park Crystal has started in Vinnytsia. The Innovation and Technology Park will occupy three floors of the former plant — 8,500 square meters of premises. It will be used to create municipal business incubator with:

• an IT school
• the Fab Lab laboratory for startups
• an adult training center
• a children's techno center
• a coworking space
• more than 100 classic and club offices
• conference rooms.

The total amount of investment in the project amounts to UAH 23 mln, of which UAH 8.5 mln is planned to be attracted from the community budget, the rest — from the state budget.

Odesa. Launching an interactive online map of the city's development

The official website of the Odesa City Council contains the online map of construction site inspections.

The map's functionality allows you to check:

• the type of work performed by the commissioning party
• who acts as the commissioning party, designer, general contractor, performs author's and technical supervision of the construction
• what documents the developer has for the land plot, urban planning conditions and restrictions, data on project expertise, as well as issued permits
• results of a survey by experts of the Odessa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture and recommendations of specialists
• data on inspections, commission surveys, and restrictions imposed by the court
• list of activities carried out based on the results of the work

Kramatorsk. Engaging residents in the development of a Community Development Strategy

Kramatorsk City Council is working on developing a strategy for the development of the city amalgamated community until 2027. To determine the main development priorities and identify key problems, the city council conducts a survey with residents. You can view the questionnaire at the link. The survey will run until June 20.

Kryvyi Rih. Launching an information resource for monuments of history and culture

Kryvyi Rih Resource Center has launched an electronic information resource on the official Kryvyi Rih portal “Historical and cultural monuments, memorial signs.” Users can get acquainted with detailed information on each object of historical and cultural heritage (name, address, year of installation, historical and audio reference). Residents can find the object by administrative district, keyword, or street name.

You can also view the information by installing the My Kryvyi Rih — Smart City application.

Poltava. Updating the city council website

The Executive Committee of the Poltava City Council has created a working group on updating the city's official website. The current version of the resource was created in 2010, so, it looks outdated. In addition, there is no mobile version.

On the updated website, it is planned to add the functionality of Poltava Smart City and make it convenient to search for documents. There are also plans to integrate the city panel into the main resource of the city council (following the example of Lviv) and geoportal.

Works on updating the website in the amount of EUR 10,000 will be financed by the German Society for International Cooperation GIZ.

Kropyvnytskyi. Digitalization of services for citizens

A memorandum is signed on cooperation between the Kropyvnytskyi City Council, the branch of the Notary Chamber of Ukraine in the Kirovohrad oblast, and the South-Eastern Interregional Department of the Ministry of Justice.

The document envisages the linking up of notaries of the Kirovohrad oblast to the information system of the community residents’ register. Notaries will automatically receive extracts from the register of the amalgamated community, which means that this will speed up the process of providing services.

Providing an extract from the register will be a paid service and will amount to 0.025% of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons.

Mykolaiv. The updated Urban Planning Cadastre

In Mykolaiv, the Urban Planning Cadastre's content was updated, and its information was brought up to date. On the platform, residents of the city have the opportunity to get acquainted with information about governing regulations, land plots, municipal property, real estate and transport infrastructure objects, etc.