Ukraine, Estonia, and Luxembourg Establish IT Coalition
During a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) on September 19th, the Ministers of Defence from Ukraine, Estonia, and Luxembourg initiated the launch of a new IT coalition under the framework of Ramstein.
This is reported by Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.
In total, representatives from 20 countries participated in the inaugural event. Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia have already joined the initiative by signing a Declaration of Intent along with Ukraine, Estonia, and Luxembourg.
"The goal of the IT coalition is to create a secure and resilient IT infrastructure for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and its Armed Forces, enabling Ukraine to be more effective and efficient on the battlefield. We are grateful to Estonia and Luxembourg for their leadership in advancing this initiative. I also want to thank Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia for joining us in this endeavor, and Luxembourg for announcing their initial commitment to the IT coalition," stated Ukraine's Minister of Defence, Rustem Umerov.
"The role of information and communication technologies in this conflict is undoubtedly more challenging to grasp, as kinetic activities on the frontlines are much more visible. Nevertheless, actions in cyberspace significantly amplify what happens on the physical battlefield. For Estonia, it is a privilege and an honor to use our e-government expertise to support Ukraine," added Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur.
The intention to launch this initiative was first announced during a UDCG meeting on June 15th. The IT coalition is a special group of donor countries led by Estonia and Luxembourg within the UDCG framework, focused on providing support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of IT, communications, and cyber security.
The key outcome of the IT coalition is the creation of a unified digital ecosystem for command, control, and resource management for the Armed Forces, promoting better coordination and more efficient utilization of defense forces and capabilities provided by partner states.
As previously reported by The Gaze, to enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian Air Force with much-needed fourth-generation+ fighter jets, an aviation coalition comprising the UK, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Sweden was formed. They agreed to begin training Ukrainian pilots and ground personnel.