On June 5, 2025, Dnipro hosted a large-scale roundtable discussion “Innovation Ecosystem as a Driver of National Security, Post-War Recovery and Sustainable Development of Ukraine” organized by NTU “Dnipro Polytechnic” together with the Ukrainian Business Council, NGO “Gene Pool of the Future” and CentralUkraineEDIH, the Central Ukrainian Digital Innovation Hub. The event brought together more than 60 business representatives from various fields and regions of Ukraine.

The event was solemnly opened by Oleksandr Azyukovsky, Rector of NTU “Dnipro Polytechnic”, Hennadii Pivniak, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Anna Kyrychenko, Head of the Gene Pool of the Future Charitable Foundation, and Anatolii Dolynnyi, Member of the Board of the Ukrainian Business Council Foundation. Representatives of state authorities, local governments, and the educational community from different regions of Ukraine also joined the event:

Oleksandra Antoniuk, Head of the Scientific Committee of the National Council of Ukraine for the Development of Science and Technology, noted that she is very interested in adapting state programs of innovative development, as she is convinced that effective implementation of innovative strategies is the key to sustainable economic growth and competitiveness of the country.

Andriy Kavunets, Deputy Head of Vinnytsia Regional State Administration for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization, noted interest in the development of industrial parks, agricultural technologies, the IT sector, as well as energy efficiency and green solutions. In this context, there is considerable potential for the application of state innovation programs through local initiatives, partnerships between government, business, and research institutions.

Kirovohrad region was represented at the event by Valentyn Lopushenko, Head of the Department for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization of the Kirovohrad Regional State Administration.

Sergiy Kholod, Rector of Alfred Nobel University, expressed his opinion that Alfred Nobel University actively demonstrates interest in implementing innovations through public-private partnership mechanisms and developing effective interaction between businesses.

Olena Filonych, Rector of National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”, noted that the combination of educational potential, scientific research and practical application of innovations could become a driver of positive changes both for the university and the region in general. She noted the effective cooperation in the development of digital innovations with NTU “Dnipro Polytechnic” and other members of the consortium for the implementation of the project to create the Central Ukrainian Digital Innovation Hub (CentralUkraineEDIH) under the Digital Europe, Horizon Europe program.

The event focused on discussing specific projects for the next three years.

Among the key speakers at the event was Ivan Nachovnyi, Deputy Head of the Dnipro Regional State Administration for Digital Development, who presented the Digital Dnipro Region as part of the state digital development strategy, focused on expanding access to information on key areas of innovative development and systematizing state support programs for entrepreneurs engaged in innovative activities.

Anna Kyrychenko from the Gene Pool of the Future Charitable Foundation spoke about cross-sectoral and interagency cooperation to ensure inclusive, barrier-free and security transformation of cities. She emphasized that in order to ensure the sustainable functioning of society during the war and post-war years, it is necessary to create infrastructures to provide comprehensive rehabilitation, professional orientation and return to active professional activities for people who have suffered from war oppression, representatives of low-mobility groups, internally displaced persons and people with disabilities.

Nadiya Sudak, General Director of DTEK Dobropolye CPP, presented the prospects for resource waste processing in terms of extracting critical raw materials for energy, electronics and other industries. She emphasized that each anthropogenic deposit is characterized by a unique composition of components and their concentrations and requires innovative approaches to energy-efficient and environmentally friendly extraction of valuable raw materials. Conditionally “empty” rocks, after the extraction of elements classified as critical raw materials, are a resource for the production of building materials and road surfaces. For many decades, the Ukrainian scientific segment has been developing anthropogenic waste processing technologies that have the potential for implementation and need to be updated to reflect the development of analytical equipment and the technological base of the processing industry. Thus, one of the areas of innovative development that should be supported through the introduction of targeted state-level programs is the extraction of critical mineral raw materials from anthropogenic deposits while restoring the surface ecosystem of mining and industrial regions.

Andrii Pohorilyi, Deputy Director of Project Management at EDS-POWER LLC, shared his experience in developing and implementing proprietary technologies for the manufacture of power equipment, designing and building large-scale power generation facilities, high-voltage substations, gas-piston and gas-turbine power generation facilities, photovoltaic power plants, high-efficiency and ergonomic high-speed charging stations for electric vehicles. He also presented the company’s experience in restoring critical infrastructure facilities that suffered as a result of the full-scale invasion. He emphasized that Ukraine needs to increase its own production of electric power and electrical equipment, including power transformers, distribution equipment for electrical systems and networks, equipment for the development of public and private electric transport infrastructure, as well as control equipment for power system facilities that meet the concept of building smart electricity networks (Smart Grid).

Vadym Ihnatov, founder of LUAZ Motors LLC and Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Electric Vehicle Association EV-UA, presented the prospects and challenges of Ukrainian electric vehicle production, including his own project LUAZ Care, an electric vehicle for people with disabilities in wheelchairs. He noted that today in Ukraine the segment of unmanned electric vehicles and robotic mobile devices for unmanned use in the agricultural sector, defense industry, etc. is developing very rapidly, which to some extent meets the needs of today and the priorities of state support. At the same time, the segment of automotive equipment for people with disabilities and low-mobility groups also needs additional support. The segment of public transport, which provides passenger transportation, maintains urban infrastructure, and is used as special equipment, requires significant support through state and local innovation development programs. Changes in this area are possible thanks to public-private partnerships and targeted programs to stimulate innovation.

The scientific block was presented by Volodymyr Hnatushenko, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of Information Technology and Computer Engineering, NTU “Dnipro Polytechnic” with a report on intelligent information technologies for analyzing unstructured data as a basis for digital transformation and national security and Ivan Laktionov, Ph, professor, professor of the Department of Computer Systems Software at NTU “Dnipro Polytechnic”, who reported on the information-oriented vector of agricultural production development using artificial intelligence. The presented areas of application of artificial intelligence and unstructured data analysis allow forecasting and risk assessment in various fields, from the agricultural sector to defense and civil protection of the population, which is of the highest priority for the state in the context of a full-scale military invasion. The presented developments are in line with the pan-European level of security projects and contribute to Ukraine’s integration into interstate security spaces and the growth of the Ukrainian economy’s competitiveness in the global dimension.

Victor Ivkin, founder of the NGO “Association of Agrovoltaics of Ukraine”, presented a report “Agrovoltaics – an innovative technology for high-margin processing and strengthening export potential” in which he noted that the combination of agrotechnology with photovoltaics allows, on the one hand, to preserve crop areas, and on the other hand, to ensure the introduction of renewable energy technologies. Studies conducted by EBA members show that by placing photovoltaic modules over crops, a synergistic effect is achieved – an increase in the amount of energy generated by renewable energy sources, an increase in the reliability of power supply to agricultural enterprises and nearby communities, as well as minimizing crop losses from drying out and hail due to shading by photovoltaic cells. An assessment of the economic efficiency of agro-voltaic technology confirms the feasibility of its implementation, as the total profit from separate crop cultivation and the placement of photovoltaic power plants in separate areas is less than when using a combined approach. The introduction of agro-voltaic technologies is in line with the key areas of innovation in the EU, is promising in terms of international cooperation under Horizon Europe research programs, and is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals to overcome hunger, decarbonize the economy, strengthen energy security, etc. The development of agro-voltaics in Ukraine is in line with the priority areas of scientific activity, but requires additional financial support from the state and agribusiness to create a research infrastructure to develop approaches to effectively combine technologies for growing new crop varieties in different geographical conditions.

The event was concluded with a panel discussion featuring Oleksandr Azyukovskyi, Rector of NTU “Dnipro Polytechnic”, Anna Kyrychenko, Head of the Gene Pool of the Future Charitable Foundation, Sergiy Kholod, Rector of Alfred Nobel University, Victoria Sokolova, Vice-Rector for Research and International Affairs of Alfred Nobel University, and Vasyl Namoniuk, PhD in Economics, Head of the Department of International Finance at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. During the panel discussion, the participants discussed state and international mechanisms for stimulating innovation, the format of further cooperation between the Roundtable participants and interested partners in the coming years, and the importance of innovative development for ensuring Ukraine’s defense capability and post-war recovery. It was noted that innovative developments in the Armed Forces of Ukraine play a key role in strengthening the country’s defense capabilities and adapting to the challenges of modern warfare through new approaches to management, logistics, communications, personnel training and digital transformation of military infrastructure. The formation of a sustainable innovation ecosystem in the Armed Forces requires effective interaction between government agencies, the private sector, academic institutions, and volunteer initiatives.

The participants defined the organizational framework of the event, which envisages holding a series of interregional roundtables and conferences followed by a comprehensive analysis of the functioning of the existing innovation ecosystem by the end of 2025. It is planned to formulate a short-term plan for experimental changes in the organization of interaction between participants in innovation activities through the creation of a temporary interregional contact group to support innovative economic development.

An important element of the strategy is to attract off-budget donor and grant funding, as well as to analyze state budget expenditures on innovation activities in order to provide at least 0.2% of GDP annually for the comprehensive implementation of state support measures for innovation in 2026-27.

The main idea of the event was to form a networked innovation ecosystem with an open architecture that will ensure the interaction of existing and new institutions and communities in Ukraine and partner countries. Such a system should create conditions for genuine cooperation between universities, business, and government in the implementation of joint projects.

The roundtable resulted in the signing of two memorandums – with Alfred Nobel University and the Association of Agricultural Sciences of Ukraine – which were the first practical steps towards creating a real network of innovations. The participants identified an ambitious action plan for 2025-2027, including holding interregional roundtables, developing a short-term plan for experimental changes in the organization of interaction between innovation stakeholders, and attracting extra-budgetary funding.

By 2030, these projects should become the basis for systemic changes in Ukraine’s security and economy, and by 2035, they should become part of major international development platforms.