Windows of opportunities for catching up: an analysis of ICT sector development in Ukraine

Following long-standing calls to investigate information and communication technology (ICT) sector development in lesser-developed economies, this study examines the sector’s rapid emergence in Ukraine utilizing a catch-up cycle conceptual framework. Ukraine is a unique case due to the country’s location in Eastern Europe, the sector’s explosive growth within an otherwise stagnant economy, and related disconnectedness to other economic sectors. This study finds that the confluence of several windows of opportunity spurred an entrepreneurial response among hundreds of firms. However, most of these firms focus on low value-added segments of the ICT global value chain and lack the managerial and technical capabilities to compete globally, much less develop new products and services. As the global ICT services sector evolves, multi-level interventions are required to maintain the sector’s growth trajectory and realize the economic and social benefits normally associated the development of a domestically inter-connected ICT sector. In order for Ukraine to secure its digital future, it must seize windows of opportunity in the global and European data economy.