Ukraine, Estonia, and Luxembourg have launched the IT Coalition

During the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) meeting on 19 September, the Ministers of Defence of Ukraine, Estonia, and Luxembourg conducted a kick-off meeting of a new IT Coalition under the ‘Ramstein framework’.

Overall 20 Nations participated in the kick-off event. Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia have already joined the initiative by signing a Declaration of Intent together with Ukraine, Estonia, and Luxembourg.

‘The goal of the IT Coalition is to deliver a secure and resilient IT infrastructure for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and Defence Forces which enables Ukraine to be more efficient and effective on the battlefield. We are grateful to Estonia and Luxembourg for their leadership in driving this initiative forward. I would also like to thank Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia for joining us in this endeavour and to Luxembourg for already announcing the first pledge to the IT Coalition’ – said Minister of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov.

The intent to establish this initiative was first announced during the UDCG meeting on 15 June. IT Coalition is a dedicated group of Donor Nations led by Estonia and Luxembourg under the UDCG framework focused on delivering support to Ukraine’s Defence Forces in the area of IT, communications, and cyber security.

The key outcome of the IT Coalition is the establishment of a single command and control and defence resource management digital ecosystem for the Defence Forces that will support better coordination and more effective Defence forces engagement and employment of capabilities provided by partner Nations.