Tech and Lessons from the Ukraine Invasion
It’s been a stressful week in a stressful couple of years to the point where one barely knows where the road forward is anymore since the landscape is shifting so rapidly.
Given its global footprint, the tech sector is not immune from disruptive global events:
First, Mykhailo Fedorov, who is Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Urges Apple’s CEO to take action and stop selling products and services in the Russian Federation.
Then Russia (said) it is restricting access to Facebook in the country, Techcrunch reported. This came after Meta Global Affairs VP @nickclegg 18h tweeted, “Ordinary Russians are using @Meta‘s apps to express themselves and organize for action. We want them to continue to make their voices heard, share what’s happening, and organize through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.”
His tweet might have come at a bad time, all things considered.
And heads up: Ukraine’s Booming Tech Outsourcing Sector at Risk After Russian Invasion. On Thursday internet outages swept the country, where workers support banking, insurance and financial services companies in Europe, the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported. “Ukraine’s information technology sector (had) been booming. Its IT export volume increased 36% to $6.8 billion last year, up from $5 billion in 2020, according to a report from IT Ukraine Association, a trade group.”
Repercussions are felt in many ways, on many levels.
Next, @FedorovMykhailo tweeted:
@elonmusk, while you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand.
Said @elonmusk in reply
Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route.
Tech isn’t all bad.
Ukrainians (have also turned) to encrypted messengers, offline maps and Twitter amid Russian invastion, said Techcrunch. “Currently, the top five apps in the country’s iOS App Store include the private messenger Signal, messaging app Telegram, Twitter and offline messengers Zello and Bridgefy. Elsewhere in the top 10 is WhatsApp; Maps.Me, an offline maps app that’s now ranking a half dozen spots higher than Google Maps, which has now just pulled its live traffic (info dubbed a security risk); and Starlink’s app from SpaceX — the latter which jumped up 39 spots after Elon Musk announced the satellite internet service was now active in the country.”
Volunteer Hackers Join(ed) Ukraine’s Fight Against Russia as well. A “Loosely organized groups of hackers appeared to bring down several key Russian websites Monday, suggesting the digital front of the deadly conflict is entering an unpredictable new phase,” said The Wall Street Journal. “Websites for the Russian Foreign Ministry as well as the country’s largest stock exchange and a key state-owned bank were offline Monday,” courtesy of “An “IT army” created by the Ukrainian government (who) urged more than 200,000 followers on its Telegram channel Monday to attempt to take down the website of the Moscow Exchange.”
Crypto in Wartime
Even crypto was brought into the fray when Fedorov asked major exchanges to block the addresses of Russian users. “Crypto is meant to provide greater financial freedom for people across the globe. To unilaterally decide to ban people’s access to their crypto would fly in the face of the reason why crypto exists,” said a spokesperson for Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange,” according to CNBC. Nor would Coinbase comply, Motherboard reported.
Warfare in the digital age has clearly opened up a new front and all well and good, as long as you have connectivity.
But there are times and situations where tech is not needed at all, so note to founders who find that they’re addressing a need that may not necessarily require a tech solution at all – Juicero being a case in point, an expensive connected juicer, subscription model included to provide the packets of fruits and vegetables as well as a recurring revenue stream. The company was doing well, until “it turns out you can squeeze juice out of the packs it relied upon using your bare hands in the same time it takes the pack-pressing Juicero to perform that task…so you don’t need a $700 machine to do what your own (free) limbs can do” and the company shut down.
Speaking of tech, wartime and simple solutions, Ukraine roads company removing road signs to confuse Russians.
Tech does have its place in the world and high-speed communications critical, but never underestimate the power of a low-tech solution. And a good example of knowing your expertise and how to best apply it or, as in the case of Juicero, things can go horribly wrong.
Speaking of which, MARK ZUCKERBERG’S SISTER (posted) SKIN-CRAWLINGLY HORRIBLE SONG ABOUT CRYPTO – a redo of Adele’s 2015 hit “Hello,” video included. Always a good idea to go with your strengths – and stay in your lane.
Onward and forward.