The World for Ukraine Summit W4UA: Humanitarian Aid, Economic Recovery, Tech
W4UA At A Glance
Rzeszów, a Polish city located just dozens of kilometers from the border with Ukraine has become a location of strategic importance. It is a key transport hub for goods coming in from abroad to support Ukraine. For its unique contributions during the war the City of Rzeszów has received the honorary title of “Rescuer City” from the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- 6 thematic areas
- 39 discussion panels
- 211 speakers
- 4 symposiums
- 12 side-events
- exhibition stands
- art performances
W4UA Summit addressed key aspects on the current map of international humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Topics and themes covered throughout the Summit were related to the short- and long-term humanitarian, social and economic challenges faced by Ukraine and Ukrainians due to the current situation:
Economic recovery, Health and family welfare, Human security and transitional justice, Humanitarian relief projects, Urban and infrastructure reconstruction, Global food (in)security.
Featured panels
- Current situation in Ukraine and the human cost of war
- Batterfield evidence and transitional justice
- Keeping Ukraine in business
- Rebuilding Ukraine’s urban spaces and infrastrusture
- Ukrainian startup ecosystem – turning challenges into opportunities
- The role of municipal partnership in the recovery of Ukraine
- Destrustion of the agricultural sector in Ukraine and the transportation of grains
- Long-term needs of the Ukraine’s health sector
- War zone specific challenges – heating, water supplies, and delivery of aid
- Logistics of transportation aid and goods to Ukraine – black swans of supply chains
Ukrainian Startups Ecosystem – Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Uliana Pereskotska, Board Member at Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association, invited tech people from Ukraine, Poland, Denmark, and Switzerland to discuss the current situation of the Ukrainian tech & startup ecosystem, various initiatives, and partnerships that have spawned throughout 2022 and shed light on what can be further done to harness the innovative potential of the Ukrainian startups in the current circumstances.
Speakers
- Ira Supruniuk, Communication Lead, editor-in-chief at TechUkraine
- Paulina Brym-Ciuba, COO StartUp Hub Poland Foundation
- Anna Coen, Founder DKTech4Ukraine
- Tomasz Samul, VP of Sales, Wolves Summit
- Mateusz Wojdylo, Founder and CEO ShareP – Sustainable Mobility Solution
According to the Google CEE report, Ukrainian startups are showing incredible resilience despite the war and recession, with enterprise value growing 3.3x since 2020. CEE startups are ranked among the highest in Europe for jobs created per Euro of venture capital invested.
Highlights
Mateusz Wojdylo, Founder and CEO ShareP – Sustainable Mobility Solution:
- Everyone can help even if you are startup! Startups and Innovation is crucial during the war, startups by definition solve problems and they do it fast!
- War is not happening only on the front line or in the cyber environment, the war is also affecting average citizens and cities! Because of that Ukraine now needs all possible technologies BUT all of futures projects and partnerships should be done in an actual partner type of way, including some Offset.
- For ShareP together with UNDP being able to solve the mobility problem in Lviv including Parkig, Public Transport and EV CHARGING is great opportunity to help!
Uliana Pereskotska, Board Member at Ukrainian-Swiss Business Association:
- To enter the Swiss market, I recommend checking local accelerators who welcome international startups; also, reach out to our startup or IT sections in the Ukrainian Swiss Business Association (a public not-for-profit organization founded in 2020 in St.Gallen with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Swiss Confederation).
- We are happy to help and connect. Finance and Insurance, along with Cyber security and Health & well-being, remain popular in Switzerland because of their solid academic background.
- Please consider trends of global development sustainability, such as cleantech, green circular economy and SDGs, especially in the corporate world. Some accelerators strongly encourage female founders I believe Switzerland can bring good customers for your product.
Anna Coen, Founder #DKTech4Ukraine
- The World for Ukraine Summit – three days of whirlwind networking, productive meetings, interesting discussions and just a great atmosphere!
- It was a pleasure to meet every speaker of our panel discussion ‘Ukrainian Startups Ecosystem – Turning Challenges into Opportunities’ in person. I am looking forward to continuing our collaboration in the future. I was happy to contribute as a founder of #DKTech4Ukraine project where we help Ukrainians with relocation, integration and employment in the Tech and Startup sector of Denmark & the Nordics. Next year #DKTech4Ukraine will be holding a conference in Copenhagen with the key representatives of Ukrainian and Danish Tech and Startup community. We hope to see you there!
Paulina Brym-Ciuba, COO StartUp Hub Poland Foundation
- We are inviting Ukrainian startups to our ongoing programs but still we have many more initiatives in the works! There is strength in unity and together we can do great things.
Tomasz Samul, VP of Sales, Wolves Summit
- As the largest conference for startups and investors in CEE, after the start of the war, we wondered how we could support the Ukrainian ecosystem.
- One of the activities was to invite Ukrainian founders for free to Wolves Summit. It turned out to be a very good move – the number of Ukrainian startups increased from 23 before the war to 80 during the May event in Wrocław. We simply enabled a much larger number of founders to do business and talk to investors, which was appreciated by the participants themselves. Contracts and doing business also helps.
- May 23-15, 2023, during Wolves Summit, we also invite Ukrainian founders for free (online or on site). Details soon on out portal.
Iryna Supruniuk, Communication Lead, editor-in-chief at TechUkraine:
- According to the statistics for 10 months of 2022, the export of IT services grew by 9.9% compared to last year and brought in more than $6 billion in revenue, surpassing the 2021 figure by $542 million. The export of IT services remains one of the few areas that continue to thrive despite the war: a significant part of the export structure — 43.8%, which is 5.7% more than last year.
- Ukraine has become the hub of military tech solutions and top-notch expertise in cybersecurity.
- Work, collaborate, and invest in Ukrainian startups, tech companies, and our innovators – they deserve it!
Everything is TECHable with Ukraine!
Rebulding Ukraine’S Urban Spaces And Infrastrusture
Ukraine already suffered numerous losses in urban spaces and infrastructure. As president Zelensky announced, almost 2.000 cities, towns and villages will need reconstruction. The context is even more dramatic, taking into consideration barbaric attacks on civilian infrastructure, including power plants, thermal power plants, pumping stations and other critical infrastructure that continue up to date. Reconstruction requires a complex approach of the local actors, Ukrainian authorities, and international community.
During the discussion, moderated by Dr. Oleksiy Feliv (INTEGRITES), the panelists represented the points of view on the questions:
- Which actors should be involved in these processes?
- How to distinguish priorities in “a sea of needs”?
- Which type of reconstruction solutions are more suitable?
Humanitarian Innovative Technologies
Within the panel french tech entrepreneur and futurist Jean-Christophe Bonis, cofounder of Team4UA, talked about the 3D printing technology and even announced the prototype of 3D bridge.
Technologies give us an opportunity to create completely new solutions for humanitarian aid, as well as to have a positive impact on the present and future of Ukrainians.
One of current projects by Team4UA is the development of new school buildings in Lviv with 3D technology. The exterior and interior design of the school was developed by balbek bureau. According to plans of the Education Office of Lviv City Council, the first students will start using the new school building with the start of the new academic year in September 2023.
The idea of 3D printing buildings appeared in terms of searching for a solution to construct more homes, faster, and in a more efficient way. Originally used for small-scale prototypes, advances in 3D printing technology have led to the creation of full-scale structures like bridges and houses, and even proposals for mankind’s first martian base.
3D printing requires not only the technology but the education on how to architect and work with the technology and understand its benefits of it.
And now, Ukraine could become the R&D hub for this solution, transfer of the technology, and scaling of the project in Ukraine & globally.
Architreatment
Borys Dorogov, COO and Partner at Kyiv-based balbek bureau, presented the projects within RE:Ukraine platform: Housing, Monuments, Memories, Villages, Vision.
Answering the question, “What can be done while the war still lasts?” Borys unveiled key points:
- assessing the extent and character of damage and destruction
- exploring new technologies to implement
- developing an integrated rebuilding strategy
- ENVISIONING THE FUTURE OF OUR CITIES
Building the future under missiles is risky, but we cannot afford to waste time waiting for the war to end.
During the speech, was also presented the unique concept ARCHITREATMENT.
How it works:
- Step 1. Architects develop their vision for affected areas or buildings.
- Step 2. The data is processed with the help of machine learning.
- Step 3. A user takes a picture of a destroyed building and uploads it into the app.
- Step 4. The AR-based application generates a virtual image of the restored building allowing the user to try out design codes.
Additional events
- Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, joined the conference virtually. Richard has been an incredible voice of support and guidance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and he, alongside Virgin Unite and the wider Virgin Group, has been working with business leaders, governments, and philanthropic partners, to support the people of Ukraine.
- Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (2022), an awards-winning Evgeny Afineevsky’s documentary, screened at the W4UA Summit.
- Kalush Orchestra, the winners of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, performed within Gala evening on the 2nd day of the Summit.
Afterword
W4UA showed the high-level organization, meaningful discussions, practical approach of collaborations, broad representatives spectrum, and definitely inspiring atmosphere.
Through the synergy of people from all over the world, humanitarian aid, and technology, we will be able more effectively to help people who suffer from the full-scale war in Ukraine.
Thanks to Kamil Szymański, the W4UA team, and everyone who helped make this Summit happen!
