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Digital Transformation Ministry prepares 'smart mobilization' for recruiting military specialists

by Martin Fornusek October 30, 2023 6:47 PM 2 min read
Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov during an interview in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 14, 2022. (Andrew Kravchenko/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The Digital Transformation Ministry is working on the so-called "smart mobilization" project aimed at recruiting military specialists on a voluntary basis, the ministry's head, Mykhailo Fedorov, said in an interview with RBC Ukraine on Oct. 30.

The pilot phase of the project, expected to be launched within the next two months, will focus on finding drone operators for Ukraine's Armed Forces, the official explained.

"We're going to run a pilot on drone operators, and that person will choose whether they want to be a drone operator or serve in a strike drone company," Fedorov said in the interview.

"If you submit an application and pass the recruitment and tests, you will undergo training, you will definitely get into a drone company, and you will definitely get into the position for which you signed up."

Fedorov emphasized the voluntary aspect of "smart mobilization": "...A person independently chooses – this is not even about mobilization, as a person chooses for themselves – the specialization for which they want to sign up, and without coercion, independently."

According to the minister, the pilot phase will help to estimate how many people are willing to volunteer and how well they will perform. Once the project is fully ready, it will be made available to "sappers, drives, all other positions," Fedorov said.

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Mykhailo Fedorov and his team “make things happen,” Time magazine wrote when it selected Fedorov as one of its 100 emerging world leaders in September. “It is like it is in his DNA to take action,” his profile read. Fedorov, Ukraine’s 31-year-old deputy prime minister and minister of digital

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