Digitize or die: Ukraine’s war is a wake-up call for 20th century militaries

Four years ago, I was managing digital services for newborn registration and COVID certificates in the Ukrainian government. We were building a government in a smartphone. In fact, we were among the first in the world to move so much public administration fully online. Back then, digital transformation was about convenience.

But then Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Suddenly, the stakes were different. Our job was no longer about convenience — it was about survival.

We faced not only an invasion of our territories, but also a war unlike any seen before: where technology, data, and logistics mattered as much as troops and weapons. That’s when we confronted a truth few militaries want to admit: Bureaucracy kills. Not metaphorically. Literally.

Delays aren’t just inefficiencies — they’re casualties. And the tools you use to move information — whether it’s a form, a request, or a call for help — are just as essential as the weapons in your arsenal.

In 2022, it became painfully clear that no amount of courage or firepower could compensate for outdated processes and broken logistics. Paper forms, manual approvals, soldiers waiting weeks to change units, citizens queuing at recruitment offices for hours, just to confirm basic data. We were losing time, and time in war is oxygen.

Bureaucratic Lag Is A National Security Threat

When people imagine modern war, they think of missile strikes, drone swarms, cyberattacks — sure, all of that is true. But it’s not the full story. The hidden war is logistical, administrative, and systemic.

The US and other NATO countries rely primarily on professional armies. In Ukraine, under martial law, we operate under mass mobilization: A legal obligation that requires millions of ordinary civilians — teachers, IT workers, engineers — to be ready for military service if called upon. This means every citizen of military age must keep their personal and military records up to date, so that the government can quickly reach them if mobilization is necessary.

Before the war, these records were collected manually through local enlistment offices, where data was recorded on paper forms and entered into Ukraine’s register of conscripts. This system had not been built for war. It was quite slow, fragmented, and full of errors. People’s addresses were outdated. Summons letters were occasionally sent to deceased individuals. Records were sometimes missing entirely.

The result was confusion, frustration — and dangerous delays at the very moment when speed was most critical.

So when Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022, thousands of Ukrainians rushed to enlist. But the system just wasn’t ready. One conscription center could physically process 20 to 40 people a day while hundreds stood in line. People sometimes stood in line for hours, even days, simply to submit their information. Meanwhile, frontline units were urgently requesting reinforcements.

We faced a modern military effort tied to 20th-century processes. So we made a shift — not only a tech upgrade, but a cultural one.

We decided that bureaucracy should not be the bottleneck to our survival. Mobilizing for war isn’t just about gear or personnel, but also about information systems. So we built and launched a secure mobile app called Reserve+. With it, Ukrainians can update military registration, explore open positions in the armed forces, and soon, enlist — all from their phones. It’s a win-win system that respects the citizen’s time while giving the military real-time visibility into manpower readiness.

Last year, a new law required all conscripts in Ukraine to update their data. Millions of people were required to do this — and there are only 178 such centers across the entire country. They processed 728,000 people in two months. The Reserve+ app handled 3.4 million. That is the scale digital systems can deliver. We redesigned the logic of mobilization for a country at war.

Let Tech Handle The Friction So People Can Fight

The war in Ukraine has exposed systemic weaknesses in global military internal processes. Western militaries are investing billions into next-gen weapons, but still rely on workflows powered by file folders and fragmented databases, instead of automation. A lot of internal military processes still run on paperwork and disconnected systems. In a crisis, those systems may not scale.

Here are a few simple questions to ask yourself: Can 3 million citizens update their data in the national military system in 60 days? Is it possible for a young adult to enlist without leaving home? Can your troops update data or request services without waiting in line? These aren’t hypotheticals, but readiness metrics.

But let’s remember one simple truth that bureaucracy doesn’t stop at enlistment. Once in uniform, soldiers often face a second battlefield — paperwork. That’s why we built Army+, an app for active soldiers that replaces the paper-based command chain with real-time, transparent processes. Soldiers file reports, request transfers, and provide real-time feedback through in-app surveys that directly inform command decisions — something unprecedented in our military culture. In a military built on rigid hierarchies, digital services give soldiers a voice, not only to serve, but to help shape how the institution evolves.

The economic impact is enormous: Digital platforms like Reserve+ and Army+ have already saved Ukraine over 70 million hours of administrative time for both soldiers and government staff, the equivalent of over 8 billion UAH ($200 million) in direct and indirect economic value, and eliminated billions more in potential corruption risks by closing loopholes for unofficial “expedited payments.”

Ukraine’s design philosophy is simple: Let technology manage processes, so people can manage missions. Because modern war is not only a contest of firepower or manpower — it’s a race of systems. Victory also depends on which side can optimize faster. Technology doesn’t replace soldiers; but it amplifies their effectiveness by removing everything that slows them down.

Lessons you can borrow — before you’re forced to

I’m not saying “copy Ukraine,” or that this is the only way. We were forced to modernize under fire, mid-war, with no room for failure. The war we are fighting today is both a wake-up call and a chance to prepare. Here’s the lesson: Learn from our experience — and be ready before it’s too late.

Digital transformation in defense isn’t just about apps, but about trust and building military systems that treat time as the finite, lethal resource it is. Modernization cannot wait for perfect conditions. If the world’s most digital-ready society can overhaul mobilization in the midst of full-scale war, so can its allies in peace.

In an age of AI, autonomous drones, and cyberwarfare, it’s easy to overlook how dangerous bad logistics and bureaucratic inertia can be. But trust me: your systems will be tested long before your soldiers are.

Legacy systems don’t win future wars, they lose them. Quietly. Bureaucratically. Irreversibly. The next front line is inside your own institutions. You don’t have to face invasion to find the cracks — but you do have to act.

The clock is ticking.

Kateryna Chernohorenko is the deputy minister of defense of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization.