Role of civic tech for resilience of Ukraine in the asymmetric war

Since the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine proved to be a natural experimental laboratory for resilience in face of different disruptions caused by the war. While most analysts focus on military and societal explanations of resistance and resilience, this contribution deals with the role of technologies in societal resilience. Ukraine is well known for its rapid digital transformation since 2015 and the immense development and appropriation of civic tech by both civil society and public authorities. The subject of this analysis is the creation of new technologies and the adjustment of the existing civic tech by the state and society to the challenges of the war. Empirically, the analysis is based on the survey of 241 local authorities, 7 interviews, and 3 focus groups with public officials at the local and regional levels, with a focus on the creation and the use of technologies in responses to different crises, as well as case studies of adjustment of civic tech purposes to the conditions of the war. Theoretically, the contribution will build a taxonomy of functions and adjustment mechanisms of technologies for resilience to war conditions. It will also reflect on constraints and challenges arising from using technologies in the war.