Abstract
<jats:p>The article examines the challenges of information support for Ukraine’s socio-economic policy in the context of moving from fragmented and untimely data toward an integrated information field capable of enabling evidence-based and data-driven governance across policy design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. It is shown that during 2014— 2021, gaps in statistical and administrative data (lack of censuses, limited capacity to conduct international surveys, underdeveloped administrative registry systems, lack of comprehensive statistics on IDPs) have led to poor data quality and institutional fragmentation of data. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion, the situation further deteriorated due to the suspension or substantial limitation of multiple official statistical operations, increasing reliance on alternative sources that are often partial and unevenly verifiable. As a consequence, strategic documents and public programmes face heightened risks of setting goals and target indicators on an insufficiently robust empirical basis. The purpose of the article is the identification of the EU regulatory and peculiarities of legal regulation regarding the main aspects of data collection, processing, storage, and use, and to justify the main directions for the formation of modern information support (information field) for socio-economic policy in Ukraine. The main research methods are general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as special methods of comparative analysis and institutional analysis. The novelty of the article lies in the fact that, based on research and assessment of the experience of developed countries, primarily EU countries, the authors have identified the main features of a new paradigm for the formation of an information space for the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of socio-economic policy. The main challenges and priorities for the development of the information space for the formation of socio-economic policy and the adoption of informed management decisions in Ukraine have been identified. The theoretical and methodological part synthesises European approaches to building a “data space” for governance, science and the economy, emphasising interoperability, re-use, confidentiality, accountability, and responsible application of advanced analytics and algorithmic tools, including in the context of expanding AI use. The paper discusses the core EU regulatory landmarks shaping data governance (GDPR, the Open Data Directive, the Data Governance Act, and the Data Act) and their role in structuring responsibilities and boundaries for key actors in the data ecosystem. The article substantiates the need for a multi-level integrated model of information support for governance in Ukraine, including harmonisation procedures, data-quality assurance mechanisms, and institutional arrangements such as trusted data intermediaries. It proposes a set of objectives and directions for developing a resilient national data environment as a prerequisite for higher-quality policy decisions and closer alignment with the European data and statistical acquis.</jats:p>