In this text, we explore the mission of CDTO Campus and its pivotal role in Ukraine’s digital transformation. You’ll discover how four methodologies: Design-sprint model, Index-driven benchmarking, Learn-apply-present cycle, and Instrument-and-simulation-driven laboratory approach work in harmony to ensure participants immediately turn new insights into practical, implementation-ready solutions.

We’ll explore the learning journey across our diverse programs: from public-governance design sprints and community development roadmaps to leadership courses in cybersecurity and hands-on technical labs. Along the way, you’ll learn how dedicated mentors and a supportive community empower graduates to move forward with confidence both during and after their studies.

Finally, we’ll share inspiring success stories from alumni who have already implemented these approaches, revealing the real-world impact and positive changes they’ve driven in communities and government institutions across Ukraine. This text will show how the journey from idea to completed project becomes both clear and achievable.

As we turn from the overview of CDTO Campus’s four methodologies to its story of origin, the next section traces how the initiative took root, scaled quickly, and built the foundation on which every subsequent program now stands.

Introduction: CDTO Campus’s mission and early impact

Ukraine became one of the first countries to introduce the position of Chief Digital Transformation Officer (CDTO). The primary idea was to establish a comprehensive organisational structure to propagate digital transformation at all levels of governance. Since then, CDTOs have become a driving force behind digital change, shaping a new culture of public sector management. Recognising the critical role of CDTOs in driving digital transformation, the need for teams of professionals capable of implementing changes at the national and regional levels emerged. This led to the creation of CDTO Campus. It became evident that large-scale reforms required a platform for training and developing CDTOs. 

In 2023, the CDTO Campus was launched at the initiative of Mykhailo Fedorov, Vice Prime Minister for Innovations, Development of Education, Science and Technologies - Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, and Valeriya Ionan, Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister — Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on Innovations, Digitalisation and Global Partnerships. 

CDTO Campus is tailored for current CDTOs, their deputies, and aspiring digital leaders from both the public and non-public sectors who are ready to transition into public service. Learn more about our mission and unique educational approach in a case study by CEO Galyna Pustova on Apolitical.

We provide training across four faculties — GovTech, Cybersecurity, AI, and Diia (focused on the Ministry of Digital Transformation’s ecosystem). We offer training through both custom-made CDTO Campus programs and partnership programs co-developed with leading tech companies and global institutions such as Google, Microsoft, Cisco, AWS, Georgetown University, UNDP, and others.

Discover below how our custom-made programs are designed to meet the specific needs of public sector digital leaders — empowering them to turn knowledge into action.

Section I. Design-sprint model for the “Digital Transformation in Public Administration” program 

“Digital Transformation in Public Administration" program is structured around a Design-sprint model that propels interdisciplinary teams through a rapid, hands-on cycle from problem discovery to a proof of concept. In each of the six modules, participants begin by conducting user-needs interviews and mapping existing service processes to uncover critical pain points. 

They sketch solution concepts and set clear success metrics, then spend the afternoon crafting low-fidelity prototypes, often using paper or click-through wireframes. Each day concludes with peer critiques that sharpen focus and surface early lessons. As the modules advance, teams graduate to interactive digital prototypes, integrate mock back-end registries and conduct early usability tests, all within compressed 48-hour cycles that mirror the urgency of real-world digital transformations.

Participants are divided into five dedicated teams, each assigned a live project from a Ukrainian ministry or agency. One team is focused on digitalising the monitoring and evaluation processes under the National Informatisation program for the Ministry of Digital Transformation. 

The second team builds a mobile application to deliver free legal assistance online on behalf of the Ministry of Justice. The third team creates AddressCheck (“My Official Address”), offered by the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development, to verify and correct citizens’ official addresses. The fourth team designs a system for issuing and managing travel entitlements, funding, and reimbursements for veterans, their families, and persons with war-related disabilities, working with the Ministry for Veterans Affairs. 

Finally, the fifth team develops an online platform for issuing permits and approvals for oversized and heavy cargo transport across Ukraine for the State Agency for Restoration and Development of Infrastructure. This real-life project assignment drove each team to apply our methodologies and deliver practical, ready-to-pilot solutions.

To balance the intensity of these in-person sprints with the realities of participants’ busy schedules, we employ a blended-learning cadence that alternates three intensive on-campus weekend sprints with three evening-based online modules. The in-person weekends run from Friday morning to Saturday evening, combining expert lectures on registry architecture and service-design principles with team workshops and prototyping labs. 

Between those weekends, participants connect for two-hour live online sessions on selected Tuesdays and Thursdays, diving deeper into specific techniques like API-first design or user-journey analytics, while working on sprint challenges that they must complete before the next face-to-face meeting. This rhythm keeps teams engaged, ensures continuity of learning and allows them to apply new concepts immediately in their home agencies.

To translate theory into practical skills, experiential learning is woven into every stage. Early on, teams conduct empathy-mapping interviews with stakeholders: city administrators, frontline service users, and IT staff, to develop “point-of-pain” statements that drive ideation. In rapid prototyping labs, participants move from paper sketches to clickable prototypes using tools like Figma, and they apply usability-testing methods to gather task-success metrics and iterate designs. 

Role-playing exercises simulate pitches to the experts, honing both technical reasoning and persuasive communication. In the final module, teams showcase polished MVPs at Demo Day, presenting technical architectures, implementation roadmaps, and projected impacts to a jury of government agency members, senior CDTOs and donor representatives.

Mentors, including design thinking experts and technical architects, are embedded throughout the sprint cycle to guide this process. Throughout the sprint, mentors work with all teams. They support the challenge formulation stage, provide feedback during prototyping on user scenarios and integration risks, facilitate end-of-day reflections, and assist in preparing for Demo Day.

Their high-touch involvement bridges classroom content and the complexities of public-sector implementation, helping teams stay on track and avoid common pitfalls as they refine their prototypes into viable service concepts.

Graduation launches participants into a vibrant support ecosystem, ensuring a lasting impact. Alumni enrol in specialised masterclasses on emerging topics such as blockchain for registry integrity or predictive analytics for citizen services. This ongoing community and continuous learning framework ensures that the design-sprint skills and MVP artefacts developed during the program evolve into scalable, production-ready deployments across Ukraine’s public sector.

Having witnessed how design sprints fast‑track national‑level projects, we now shift our lens to Ukraine’s territorial communities, where an index‑driven approach helps local leaders benchmark progress and chart data‑anchored digital roadmaps.

Section II: Index-driven benchmarking for the “Digital Transformation in Public Administration for Local Authorities” program

The “Digital Transformation in Public Administration for Local Authorities” program is grounded in the Community Digital Transformation Index (hromada.gov.ua), an instrument developed by Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation together with the EGAP program to measure and monitor the current level of digitalisation in territorial communities. 

By starting with a data-driven baseline, participants immediately see how their own community scores across dimensions such as institutional capacity, internet infrastructure, paperless processes, and digital services. This shared understanding then guides both the strategic discussions and practical exercises that follow.

Balancing deep, immersive learning with the need for flexibility throughout the twelve-module curriculum, we combine intensive, one-day in-person sessions in Kyiv with weekly two-hour online evenings. The opening day brings everyone together to register, meet instructors, and dive into the Digital Transformation Index: its philosophy, calculation method and implications for local development. 

Participants then join once-a-week online lectures on topics ranging from the legal framework for digital transformation to the architecture of electronic registries and the implementation of electronic document management. Each month, participants gather on campus for a thematic learning day. For example, one of these sessions focuses on digital infrastructure and competencies: participants assess the level of digital literacy in their communities and explore case studies of digital hubs and broadband expansion.

As the program progresses, modules alternate between sectoral deep dives (cybersecurity, AI in the public sector, sectoral services like health and education) and practical workshops on strategy, financing, governance and stakeholder communication. This rhythm ensures that learners can immediately apply new knowledge in their home communities while still benefiting from face-to-face collaboration.

After each deep-dive session, participants apply their learning to practical assignments that reflect challenges faced in real-world settings. They sketch out a full structure and governing charter for a Digital Transformation unit in their own organisations, then analyse their community’s strengths and weaknesses in good governance and propose digital solutions to address both. 

From there, they build detailed implementation roadmaps, complete with beneficiary benefits, user roles, ownership, timelines, training plans, risk-mitigation strategies and resource outlines. 

They even experiment with AI-powered workflows, drafting official letters, infographics, automation scripts and meeting summaries using leading tools. Finally, they consolidate everything into a strategic digital-transformation chapter and an informatisation program that community leaders can adopt immediately. 

Because every assignment yields real deliverables tied to actual community needs, graduates return to their workplaces with actionable plans and tested ideas. They’re not just theoretically informed. They’ve rehearsed the full cycle of design, planning, execution and review, so they can drive digital transformation projects from day one and secure buy-in from decision-makers.

Across all modules, participants are supported by CDTO Campus trainers and guest experts from the Ministry of Digital Transformation and leading practitioners. These mentors review each team’s roadmap and practical ideas, validate technical and legal approaches, and help refine stakeholder engagement strategies. Their real-world insights ensure that every plan is not only visionary but also feasible within the administrative and regulatory context of Ukrainian local government.

Upon graduation, alumni enter an ecosystem of ongoing support. They gain access to follow-up consultations on subjects ranging from grant-writing for digital projects to change-management workshops. They join a growing professional network, connecting with peers across different regions to share best practices and collaborate on cross-community initiatives. 

Once community leaders master index‑based planning, the focus tightens on cybersecurity leadership, where an iterative learn‑apply‑present cycle ensures that policies drafted in class withstand the pressures of real‑world threats.

Section III. Learn-apply-present cycle for the “Leadership Program in Cybersecurity for Executives” 

“Leadership Program in Cybersecurity for Executives” is centred on a continuous learn-apply-present cycle, ensuring that every theoretical insight is immediately tested and refined. Each module kicks off with a full-day, in-person session where participants dive into the latest frameworks − from Ukraine’s legal mandates and institutional cybersecurity architecture to advanced threat-intelligence methods and crisis-communication strategies. As they absorb lectures on ISO/IEC 27001 management systems, incident-response planning, and platforms like MISP, they’re simultaneously challenged to envision concrete artefacts for their own organisations.

Following the intensive campus day, participants enter a home-assignment phase lasting ten days to two weeks, during which they draft critical policy documents tailored to their institutions. After the fundamentals module, each leader produces an information-security policy and outlines an ISO-based management framework. 

After the threat-intelligence session, they design a bespoke incident-response plan, mapping mission-critical systems, recovery objectives and testing protocols. In the final crisis-communications workshop, they craft stakeholder-specific messaging guidelines to manage both internal and public communications during incidents. 

Wrestling with real-world constraints, budget limits, regulatory requirements, and organisational culture ensures these artefacts are practical from day one.

At the end of each assignment period, the cohort reconvenes, either online or back on campus, for a structured workshop where every participant presents their draft policies and plans. Instructors and peers interrogate clarity, feasibility and compliance, while sharing insights from diverse organisational contexts. 

This rigorous peer review not only elevates each artefact to an implementation-ready standard but also hones leaders’ presentation and negotiation skills, preparing them to advocate effectively for cybersecurity measures within their organisations.

Describing the sequence of modules and their focus areas, over two months, the program unfolds across four interlocking modules. The first module introduces participants to the national cybersecurity landscape: legal frameworks, key institutions like the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC) and CERT-UA, and foundational management principles. 

The second deep-dives into threat intelligence and risk management, guiding leaders through policy drafting and the setup of monitoring tools. The third module zeroes in on incident response and disaster recovery, blending a hands-on recovery planning workshop with an independent sprint to draft comprehensive response plans. 

The final module is devoted entirely to crisis communications: tailoring messages for different stakeholders, conducting live media-engagement simulations and developing strategies to counter disinformation.

Moving through the learn-apply-present methodology, leaders leave not only with a deep conceptual understanding but also with a tangible suite of ready-to-deploy artefacts: policies, procedures and communication protocols that reflect both global best practices and local realities. 

By alternating immersive theory days with focused assignments and collaborative review sessions, the learn-apply-present cycle ensures every participant is fully prepared to lead effective, resilient cybersecurity transformations from day one.

After exploring the iterative learn‑apply‑present cycle, we turn to a contrasting methodology: the instrument‑ and simulation‑driven laboratory, which shifts the focus from drafting high‑level policies to mastering cyber‑defence tools and tactics through immersive, scenario‑based experimentation and real‑time feedback.

Section IV. Instrument- and simulation-driven laboratory methodology for the “Cybersecurity Essentials for Non-Tech

”The “Cybersecurity Essentials for Non-Tech” program track is built on an instrument- and simulation-driven laboratory methodology that merges problem-based learning with authentic cybersecurity scenarios. Rather than splitting theory and practice across weeks, we immerse participants in six consecutive full-day sessions. 

Each morning begins with a focused theoretical overview − whether on OSINT techniques, personal and institutional protection, phishing mechanics, or social-engineering tactics − immediately followed by live demonstrations of professional tools like Maltego, Shodan, MISP-UA, and PhishTool. This tight integration of concept and demonstration ensures learners grasp not only “why” but also “how” to use each capability in real-world contexts.

Each full‑day module maximises hands‑on experience. Every lecture pairs a 30‑minute theory block with a 90‑minute practical session, and concentrating all activities into one day eliminates downtime. So what participants learn during the theoretical component, they immediately apply in hands‑on practice.

When talking about improving the learning experience, it is important to emphasise that realism is key. We craft scenario-based exercises drawn from actual incident case studies, such as coordinated phishing and DDoS attacks or tailored social-engineering campaigns. Splitting into attacker and defender teams, participants gain firsthand insight into each side’s tactics and mindset. 

This role-play not only sharpens technical capabilities, like reconnaissance and incident response, but also builds empathy and collaboration, as “defenders” learn to anticipate adversary moves while “attackers” appreciate the challenges of building resilient defences.

Trainers circulate continuously, offering real-time corrections, suggesting alternative approaches and highlighting emerging best practices. Their presence turns every exercise into a live coaching opportunity, where mistakes become teachable moments and successes are immediately celebrated. At the end of each task, all participants gather for a facilitated debrief, sharing questions, comparing strategies and capturing lessons.

By the end of the program, participants bring tangible outcomes back to their organisations. Graduates leave not just with theoretical knowledge but with a suite of concrete playbooks, checklists and procedures: OSINT workflows, digital-hygiene protocols, phishing simulation blueprints and social-engineering defence matrices. 

Because every element is built and tested in context, they can deploy these artefacts immediately, whether setting up an internal threat-monitoring dashboard, launching staff-awareness campaigns or strengthening remote-work security policies. This instrument- and simulation-driven laboratory approach guarantees that learning translates directly into impactful action from day one.

Together, these intertwined methodologies complete the learning journey. From strategic vision to frontline execution, setting the stage for a conclusion that links individual achievements to nationwide digital‑transformation impact.

Conclusion: From insight to impact

In bringing together the Design-sprint model, Index-driven benchmarking, Learn-apply-present cycle, and Instrument- and simulation-driven laboratory methodology, CDTO Campus offers a seamless learning journey that moves from problem discovery to real-world solutions. 

Over the course of multiple modules, participants experience rapid prototyping sprints, data-anchored community assessments, focused policy-writing sprints and hands-on cybersecurity labs. All are designed to reinforce each other and ensure that new concepts are immediately put into practice.

Yet the journey doesn’t end at graduation. As members of the CDTO Campus alumni community, participants gain ongoing access to peer-pod gatherings and advanced masterclasses, ensuring their momentum continues long after their final workshop. With this living network and their newly minted toolkits, they stand ready to lead resilient, user-centric digital and cybersecurity transformations across Ukraine’s public and community sectors, turning early ideas into lasting impact.

By Pavlo Khud