In partnership with the MIT Sloan School of Management, the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) contributed to a groundbreaking white paper: "Building & Leveraging Ukraine’s Drone Capabilities in Conflict & Beyond." This publication explores Ukraine’s extraordinary rise as a center of defense innovation, particularly in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), under the extreme pressure of full-scale war.
Drawing on MIT’s innovation ecosystem framework, the paper provides a systematic analysis of how five stakeholder groups—entrepreneurs, investors, government, corporations, and universities—mobilized in Ukraine to develop, scale, and deploy advanced drone technologies at an unprecedented pace. It emphasizes how this effort, though initially ad hoc and driven by volunteers and small businesses, evolved into a robust national innovation ecosystem that now produces over four million drones annually and fuels technological advancement across land, sea, and air domains.
Ukraine’s case challenges traditional assumptions about how innovation ecosystems form and thrive. Unlike the peacetime clusters of Silicon Valley or Boston, Ukraine’s drone ecosystem was forged under existential threat, relying heavily on informal networks, grassroots ingenuity, and rapid feedback loops from the battlefield. Government policy played a catalytic role starting in late 2022, simplifying procurement, supporting scaling efforts, and introducing groundbreaking initiatives such as the Army of Drones and the Brave1 innovation platform.
KSE supported this research by coordinating stakeholder engagement in Ukraine and facilitating insights into the economic and institutional dynamics behind the ecosystem’s success. Our faculty and alumni were involved in mapping industry actors, analyzing data, and contributing to policy recommendations.
This collaboration exemplifies KSE’s commitment to applied, globally relevant research that contributes both to Ukraine’s resilience and to the global understanding of mission-driven innovation. As the report concludes, Ukraine’s wartime innovation has significant implications for allied nations and future recovery, turning tactical necessity into long-term strategic advantage.
You can access the full report here:
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