This article is authored by Viktor Nestulia, Head of the DREAM Project Office, Open Contracting Partnership

Amid large-scale reconstruction needs, Ukraine is rethinking how public investment is managed, combining global standards with digital infrastructure to create a more transparent and coordinated system.

Effective Public Investment Management (PIM) is the cornerstone of economic growth and fiscal sustainability ensuring the planning, development, modernisation and maintenance of infrastructure projects. Research from the IMF indicates that countries, on average, lose approximately one-third of the potential economic impact of public investment due to inefficiencies in PIM processes, such as poor project appraisal and fragmented planning. 

Ukraine accelerated the transformation of its PIM system in 2022. The initial catalyst were large-scale reconstruction needs due to the full-scale war, an estimated USD 587.7 billion over a 10-year horizon that is equivalent to almost three times of Ukraine’s 2025 GDP. To respond to this challenge, Ukraine transitioned from a fragmented inefficient PIM system with 18 different disconnected public investment procedures to a unified model with a comprehensive digital platform at its core — the DREAM ecosystem.

Ukraine’s PIM reform serves as a practical case study for reengineering public sector procedures and processes based on GovTech principles, including interoperability, agile development, open data use, and collaboration between the government and civil society.

Ukraine provides an operational model applicable for public investment efforts more widely. It can be replicated not only for reconstruction but also for specific infrastructure development, climate disaster response, or developing territories under financial constraints. Currently entering the scaling and institutionalisation phase, the reform demonstrates how international PIM standards can be redesigned based on comprehensive digital solutions.

Bottom-up Initiative and Reliance on Global Practices  

The structural framework of the reform aligns with proven global standards, largely drawing on World Bank recommendations based on its 2022 Public Investment Management Assessment report. The report identified previous systemic vulnerabilities: fragmentation, poor alignment between planning and budgeting, and a lack of standardised procedures.

The new PIM methodology was developed in collaboration with experts from EIB JASPERS, UK NISTA, the World Bank, the Open Contracting Partnership, and others, adapting tools like the UK Five Case Model for project appraisal and the Open Contracting Data Standard. To meet IMF and World Bank requirements for a comprehensive public investment management information system, Ukraine structured its government IT solutions around an integrated digital platform.

A notable aspect of Ukraine’s PIM reform implementation is that the conceptualisation of its digital backbone, the DREAM ecosystem, originated from civil society organisations teamed up in the RISE Ukraine Coalition, before being adopted as government policy. This represents a bottom-up approach to complex GovTech project development.

An Open Digital Architecture: Dream as a “System of Systems”    

The DREAM ecosystem serves as this digital foundation, deeply integrating with existing government databases, including the Register of Damaged and Destroyed Property, the e-construction management system, the Prozorro public procurement system, and the spending.gov.ua portal, among others. By establishing a unified digital pathway for managing investment projects, the system enforces a clear entry point to the process and a once-only principle for data entry, eliminating duplication. It facilitates complex strategic functions such as selecting projects based on specific criteria, the preparation of medium-term investment plans, and the formation of single project pipelines.

The DREAM ecosystem follows GovTech principles by transitioning from retrospective analysis to a real-time transactional system (OLTP) so the planning, expert assessment, and funding approvals happen directly within the digital platform. Built on the standardised global open data schema for public procurement, the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS), DREAM ensures access to open data and citizen participation. External analytical services like the Big Recovery Portal or the Clarity Project can automatically extract machine-readable data, providing civil society and journalists with tools to monitor projects across all stages and mitigating risks of overspending and corruption.

Conceptually, DREAM is a “system of systems” structured around a core Business Logic Layer that guides users through all stages of the project and programme implementation. This core layer is supported by the Integration Layer that automates the data exchange, while the Public/Presentation and Analytical layers equipped with the Business Intelligence module ensure accessible data. A Risk Management Layer applies algorithms to detect deviations in cost or schedules, while AI Assistant provides real-time contextual prompts, reducing the risk of human error during complex documentation.

Comprehensive Implementation: Going Beyond a Digital Solution

Comprehensive public investment reform requires concurrent adjustments to methodology, regulations, strategic communication, and capacity building. The implementation relied on a cross-functional “teams of teams” model that involves the Ministries of Finance, Economy, and Development, alongside the developer, international donors, and the DREAM Project Office representing the expert community and civil society.

While the technical functionality of the DREAM ecosystem was being developed, the legal team that brought together representatives of the government, the DREAM Project Office and sectoral experts worked on institutionalising the new workflows, initiating amendments to the Budget Code and drafting government resolutions. 

Simultaneously, a cross-sectoral team and dedicated department of the DREAM Project Office — the DREAM Academy — developed methodological materials, instructions and organised training sessions across the country to build the capacity of local government employees. In 2025 alone, it delivered over 70 training sessions, both offline and online, to 30,000 specialists to help regions operationalise the new investment planning rules. This multi-level organisational support helped mitigate resistance to change and facilitated the digital solution's day-to-day integration.

The DREAM Project Office team uses an agile approach driven by a comprehensive monitoring and learning framework. The tradeoffs of this iterative method included heavy team workloads, compressed testing periods, and the need for extensive coordination among the “team of teams”. But thanks to this partnership-oriented approach the team achieved significant results during the first two years implementing the PIM reform.

Real Impact: The Current Achievements of PIM Reform

As the PIM reform in Ukraine moves into the scaling stage, the operational data so far provides clear measurable outcomes across several metrics:

• Standardisation of procedures: The project management has transitioned to a unified digital methodology. Currently, 100% of investment projects are implemented through a single procedure, with data accessible via the ecosystem's Public Portal and Business Intelligence Module.

• Medium-term planning: In 2025, the first cycle of medium-term investment planning in Ukraine was completed, resulting in the creation of the initial Medium-Term Plans of Priority Public Investments and State Single Project Pipelines at national, sectoral, and local levels.

• System adoption: The DREAM ecosystem is used by 89% of communities, as well as all ministries and government organisations engaged in PIM processes.

• Automated funding distribution: Financial programmes, such as those allocating funds for school shelters and food, used DREAM to process applications. This transparent approach accelerated the implementation timeline sixfold, down from 6 months to 1 month.

The next phase of the reform involves deploying digital procedures for monitoring implementation and auditing investment projects, aiming to increase financial flexibility and investment efficiency within the medium-term cycle.

Lessons for the Global Community: Digital Transformation of the Pim System

Ukraine’s experience demonstrates that integrating technology can structurally reinforce institutional sustainability. Combining standardised global public finance frameworks with an open IT ecosystem architecture facilitates a transition from fragmented manual allocation to evidence-based strategic planning. This operational case provides a structural model for rethinking how governments can manage public investments with greater accountability and effectiveness.

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