Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
24 August marks Ukraine’s National Day, also known as Independence Day.
Since the launch of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wales has become a Nation of Sanctuary for thousands of people who have escaped the conflict. In this blog, we describe some of the work using digital tools in Wales to help Ukrainian people stay safe and supported.
Becoming adaptable in times of crisis
We all remember how the pandemic led to a sudden increase in the use of online services. Many people used digital ways of staying in touch with family and friends, accessing health care, studying and generally carrying out much of their day-to-day business online.
For public service organisations running essential services, the shift to digital was a catalyst for working together to rapidly deliver new and vital services online. The development of the NHS Track, Trace and Protect System in Wales, for example, involved a huge amount of joint working across government, business, health boards and local authorities. Working together on key digital programmes like this helped build strong partnerships and develop a supportive digital approach across the Welsh public service.
By laying the foundations of this digital approach during the pandemic, we gained valuable experience which helped us respond effectively and quickly to welcome Ukrainians to Wales.
Designing new digital services
In Wales, we implemented 3 important digital services as part of our Nation of Sanctuary programme.
We developed a way for businesses to provide offers of support online. These offers were then quickly disseminated to local authorities to take them up and get goods or services to people who really needed them. This was particularly valuable in relation to accommodation offers which were utilised to provide accommodation for those sponsored by the Welsh Government. We also created on online Expression of Interest service for people offering homes or accommodation, which also enabled us to speed up the process of finding accommodation options, ensuring they were safe, and getting people settled. And finally, we implemented a way of sharing data between local authorities, health boards, contact centres and welcome centres to help Ukrainian people move around Wales and access the services they needed.
We were able to do this because we had already established strong partnerships across public sector organisations during the pandemic and public sector staff had developed better digital transformation skills too. It enabled us to take a “Once for Wales” approach.
So, while the work was led by Welsh Government, our digital response could only have happened through working across our digital partners with important support from the Wales Nation of Sanctuary Ukraine Contact Centre, Centre for Digital Public Services, Digital Health and Care Wales and the Chief Digital Officer for Local Government.
We also knew we wouldn’t get it right first time so we adopted agile ways of working, ensuring we delivered products quickly and continued to improve them as the services adapted or as we received user feedback.
Supporting services by sharing data
Our data sharing service was rapidly designed and developed from scratch. It was developed in an iterative and collaborative way and the needs of users were considered from the start. But, just as importantly, we built on the partnerships forged during the pandemic to develop a data sharing framework which was agreed across the public sector. Whilst we worked under the principle of privacy by design, we ensured the people who needed access to data to deliver support for Ukrainians were able to do so.
The service guarantees that people working with Ukrainians across the public sector can help them access key wrap-around support services, have the right information to apply for visas and find safe and secure accommodation in a timely fashion.
Supporting services by improving connectivity
New services are only useful if you can access them! So, while we were building these new services, the Welsh Government also worked with local authorities and telecommunications providers to upgrade broadband connectivity at key locations such as Welcome Centres. Improvements to the WiFi infrastructure and installation of a temporary mast provided additional capacity and coverage needed to help ensure there was good mobile coverage.
Our Digital Communities Wales programme also provided tablet devices to help people access digital services and keep in contact with their families. We also repurposed existing IT equipment, bought during the pandemic, to enable Ukrainians keep in touch with loved ones, work or study.
What we’ve learned along the way
A few years ago, we could never have predicted some of the worldwide events that have happened and the impact they have had on Wales. We could also never have imagined the progress we have made in using digital and data to respond to these crises. The foundations we have put in place through the Digital Strategy for Wales, and learning from what has gone on before has helped us get into this position.
Using today as a day of reflection, I’m really proud of what we have achieved in Wales to help make Ukrainians welcome, safe and secure.
Digital, Data and Technology, Welsh Government