The Strategic
Plan of
the ICS
for the years
2021–2028
The Strategic Plan of the ICS
for the Years 2021–2028
Foreword
T
he ics strategic plan is based on the Masaryk University Strategic Plan, and in several areas,
implicitly takes over the goals and priorities without their explicit mention in this document.
In contrast to the mu Strategic Plan, the ics’s Strategic Plan is significantly more
specific and comprehensive at the level of the strategic objectives; on the contrary, the measures
are usually shorter. The Institute thus reflects the situation in the field of information technologies
and their deployment, when it is necessary to count on the rapid change of specific technologies
and the way they are deployed; therefore, it usually does not make sense for long-term plans to go
into too specific (technological) measures, as these will undoubtedly change.
Therefore, despite the still relatively high degree of abstraction used, it is necessary to consider
that significant changes will occur, especially in it professional background, and the ics Strategic
Plan will need to be modified accordingly.
On the other hand, the ics Strategic Plan (in the context of the mu Strategic Plan) is a clear plan
of further development of ics mu with the target of maintaining and further strengthening its role
as a top workplace, providing expert professional it background to the university and gradually
create an internationally visible and recognized workplace in strategic areas of research and development,
explicitly described in this document. At the same time, ics wants to hold the role of
a key partner in cybersecurity, building eosc and Open Science environment within the Czech
Republic and the eu.
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
Our Vision
by 2028, the mu institute of computer science will be:
1. An internationally open workplace supporting applied research in selected strategic areas
with the simultaneous deployment of results in the operation and management of the university
it infrastructure and related services.
2. An important and active part of the extensive research infrastructure e–infra cz, with specific
responsibilities for fulfilling the eosc principles and their implementation at the national level.
3. A key national institution of Open Science activities in the Czech Republic, purposefully supporting
preparation and access to scientific data following fair principles.
4. ics will actively contribute to the perception of Open Science as an ecosystem of service providing
professional scientific services for academics and serve at the same time as the advanced
infrastructure for fulfilling the university’s social role.
5. A National Research Center in the field of validation and explainability of artificial intelligence
methods, including the application of results in selected strategic areas.
6. A top cybersecurity center exploring the possibilities of automation of cybersecurity teams
and developing the use of artificial intelligence for the creation of autonomous cybersecurity sys-
tems.
7. A dynamic provider of top it infrastructure facilities and a comprehensive portfolio of quality it
services, bringing added value to employees, teams, students, and visitors of Masaryk University.
8. A leader in the field of information systems and electronic agendas of universities using artificial
intelligence methods to support the management of universities.
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1 Teaching and Education
strategic priorities
1.1 ics will become an essential part of the mu educational environment, focusing on it professional
education, advanced data management, and education in cybersecurity.
key results and indicators
1.i ics is perceived as the expert workplace actively sharing its experience.
1.ii ics offers lectures, individual courses, and larger educational blocks within the university
and external interested parties or institutions.
1.iii ics provides students with internships and opportunities for active involvement in developing
and administering the ict infrastructure and data in research in strategic areas, including
participation in the preparation of policies and background for Open Science.
1.iv ics employees conduct Bachelor’s and Master’s theses, mainly, but not exclusively, for
students of the Faculty of Informatics (the widest possible coverage of research and it
professional areas).
1.v ics offers and expands specific it education for the public, public and private sectors,
focusing on cybersecurity, it infrastructure, and core it and scientific services.
tools for achieving strategic objectives
1.a ics will become the guarantor of the it part of the core university courses and will take
care of the digital competencies of students, mu staff, and participants in lifelong learning
courses in cooperation with other parts of mu.
1.b ics will cooperate more closely in teaching digital competencies with the private sector
and other non-academic institutions.
1.c Continuous communication with study program guarantors, specifically in professional it
specialization, regarding the possibilities of internships, final thesis topics, and cooperation
on specific lectures or parts thereof.
1.d Targeted support of modern approaches in teaching over the top infrastructure and providing
appropriate facilities and services, including support of various forms of distance
learning (digital simulation, virtual experiments, etc.).
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
2 Science and Research and Doctoral Studies
strategic priorities
2.1 Contribute to the position of MU as a top research university by developing its e-infrastructure
background, based on active involvement in national and international e-infrastructures,
in particular e–infra cz and eosc; to promote interdisciplinarity through active involvement
and cooperation with other research infrastructures at mu and beyond.
2.2 Coordinate and systematically develop the principles and strategy of Open Science at mu,
establish mu as a significant bearer of large research data repositories, built in compliance
with fair principles and involved in the eosc ecosystem in order to promote the longterm
improvement of the decision-making culture based on (scientific) facts in the Czech
Republic (development of scientific diplomacy).
2.3 Continuously develop the position of ics as an internationally recognized workplace of
applied research, especially in the strategic areas of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence,
and e-infrastructures, with targeted use of the results achieved directly in the university
environment.
2.4 Support it-oriented interdisciplinarity in doctoral studies, offer appropriate dissertations
topics and collaborate across doctoral degree programs at the university by qualified care
of the synergistic application of it principles in solving interdisciplinary research topics
related to the ics’s strategic research directions.
specific strategic priorities in individual strategic areas
of ics research
2.5 Be the leading national workplace in the field of research and application of autonomous
cybersecurity tools, with a particular focus on the tools and processes that enable to master
the transformative influence of artificial intelligence on cybersecurity.
2.6 Develop the concept of maximum automation of the cybersecurity team, whose focus is
to research advanced methods of ensuring situational awareness and prediction of cybersecurity
incidents.
2.7 Study and develop models, tools and processes for validation, verification and deposition
of ai methods in order to become a national reference institution in this field, in particular
for the processing of cybersecurity data, life sciences and medicine and the operation of
large-scale it systems.
2.8 Develop research in the field of explicability of the behavior of artificial intelligence methods
with subsequent development of applied xai (explainable ai) methods, to achieving
the position of a national leader in this field.
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2.9 Create a flexible (cloud) infrastructure for data extraction from scientific data repositories
in particular in the following areas: (i) health and life sciences, (ii) environmental, toxicological
and pharmaceutical data, (iii) operation of e-infrastructures, including data specific to
cybersecurity research; in connection with point 8 then actively contribute to the building
of data repositories in these areas.
2.10 Develop research and progress in designing and accelerating algorithms for efficient use
of high-performance (hpc) e-infrastructures and large data warehouses. Support and develop
interdisciplinary research by targeting the mu research teams’ needs in national and
international contexts, especially in large research infrastructures, the eosc and Eurohpc;
playing a key role in this area within the national e-infrastructure e–infra cz.
2.11 Develop research in the field of access control to it resources (authentication and authorization
infrastructure), including the development of appropriate tools with an aspiration
for broad international deployment.
2.12 Develop the Open / FAIR Data concept, especially in relation to methods, processes and
tools for creation, operation and further development of open repositories of scientific
data; involving actively (in coordination) in the preparation of the national concept and the
subsequent building of a network of such repositories within the Czech Republic and their
connection to international activities.
key results and indicators
Common
2.i High quality of publication results, especially in d1 and q1v journals and at top conferences;
a growing trend in the number and quality of results.
2.ii Significant share of publications with foreign partners (a growing trend).
2.iii Increase the number of habilitated employees (associate professors and professors) so
that at least two habilitated workers cover each strategic topic.
2.iv Extent of involvement in international authorities (working groups, panels, standardization
institutions and groups…), specifically in the position of leaders or their deputies.
2.v Growing involvement in international projects and similar activities with a significant position
in the project framework; coordination of international projects (measured by a number
of projects, position in them, and volume of funds raised).
2.vi Number of successful doctoral graduates led by ics employees; a number of supervisors–
consultants from among ics employees (regardless of the field of study); a growing trend
in the leadership of doctoral students under dual supervision (with a foreign institution).
2.vii Number of cooperating foreign workplaces (the primary indicator are exchange stays for
trained doctoral students and employees).
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
2.viii Number of cooperating industrial partners (a growing trend) and development of contract
projects research (national and international).
2.ix Number of active cooperation with the state administration or self-government (projects,
studies, contract research…).
Specific
2.x Number of large research infrastructures with active (contractual) cooperation with ics.
2.xi Number and extent of managed repositories of scientific data.
2.xii Create the framework for the development and continuous training of autonomous cybersecurity
tools.
2.xiii Create the system and methodology for system validation using the principles of artificial
intelligence.
tools for achieving strategic objectives
2.a Emphasize increasing academic qualification — professional guidance of doctoral students
in consultants’ role, securing habilitated employees, and preparing for securing at
least one professorship position.
2.b Continuing the internationalization of team members, recruitment, and ongoing maintenance
of foreign workers in post-doc positions.
2.c Deepening cooperation with existing foreign partners — extensive involvement in international
research communities through joint projects, working groups, organization of
conferences and exchanges; specifically deepening cooperation and involvement in European
and possibly in global infrastructures.
2.d Deepening cooperation with the state administration and the commercial sector — continuing
and developing existing cooperation, finding opportunities to create new ones,
ensuring the transfer of research and development results into practice, obtaining continuous
feedback and initiative for research and development topics.
2.e Submitting projects with significant research or development potential and applied outputs
commercialization.
2.f Establishing cooperation with hospitals in the Czech Republic to store medical data for
Research (in progress with fn Brno and mou).
2.g Developing collaboration with recetox.
2.h Offering post-doc positions in ai analysis of multimodal health data (with more precise
specification sub-domains — e.g., omic and clinical data, imaging and clinical data, time
series).
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2.i Applying research prototypes to clinical practice in cooperation with medical groups or
with industry — with appropriate national and international funding.
2.j Involving in the creation of European Health Data Spaces at the national level.
2.k Targeted interaction with other significant research infrastructures in the field of life sciences
and environmental protection at both national and international level; searching for
potential in particular project collaboration within Horizon Europe.
2.l Active role in the university strategy of renewal and development of research infrastructures;
active role at the national level in further developing research infrastructures and
especially their IT background.
2.m Direct support for the ics involvement in other research infrastructures, especially in coordination
with other mu workplaces.
2.n Specific involvement in university-wide support of interdisciplinary teams requiring significant
it support or resources.
2.o Implementing the Open Science Strategy muni 2022–2028.
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
3 Internal Culture and Social Activities
strategic priorities
3.1 Active offer of professional expertise in it areas, emphasizing cybersecurity and safe use
of ai tools.
3.2 ics will become a partner to increase the professional expertise availability of university
for the general public, including its comprehensible presentation.
3.3 Support students and university staff’s altruistic initiatives in the form of creation and operation
appropriate it platforms and tools; ensure the long-term operation of at least one
university platform for social discussion.
key results and indicators
3.i ics moderates the discussion within the professional university it community and supports
its mutual knowledge with users; contributes positively to the cultivation of this re-
lationship.
3.ii ics applies research procedures obtained from working with data and experience with
user processing requirements for the comprehensible presentation of key information on
societal issues.
3.iii cps is gradually transformed into a meeting place for students and an environment that
allows, in collaboration with libraries, to act as an open public platform to communicate
social issues and evaluate their response.
tools for achieving strategic objectives
3.a Creating a communication strategy and a strategy for the popularization of science and
professional it expertise of ics, including public and social media, including local ones.
3.b Deepening communication within the it community, organization of educational workshops,
quality care of services provided, communication of community topics, and professional
identity to the university public.
3.c Emphasizing intra-university publicity of activities in the field of it tools, related procedures,
and their presentation in relation to the successful fulfillment of the university’s
primary tasks.
3.d Deepening of clear information about news and changes in it tools, co-workers “behind
them” and care for further improvement of this communication.
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3.e In cooperation with the student public, we will also open cps to be suitable for public discussion.
First to professional topics of ict, then to other areas; a conceptual connection
with mu’s planned cultural and social center.
3.f Cooperation with regional and municipal administration and self-government (especially
with the South Moravian Region and the statutory city of Brno) for the use of expertise
in data processing in the evaluation effectiveness of communication with the public, submission
of expert opinions, etc.
3.g ics will support the development of Open Science topic and related Open concepts from
public (Open Data) and private sector (Open Innovation) as new forms of advanced communication
and visualization of scientific and professional topics for the general public,
public administration and industry (infrastructure development for scientific diplomacy).
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
4 Personnel Management and Employee
Development
strategic priorities
4.1 Be an attractive employer for top scientists and it professionals offering open personnel
policy with appropriate personnel management processes and motivation for excellent
performance.
4.2 Continuously cultivated internal environment, which is motivating for employees in the
sense of identification with the employer, active participation in promoting ics and its ac-
tivities.
key results and indicators
4.i Acquired and long-term maintained hr Award.
4.ii Increase the share of foreign researchers and non-researchers at ics, increase the number
of workers with experience of living abroad.
4.iii Increase the share of women in research and it professional positions.
4.iv Created and actively used onboarding system, with particular emphasis on it profession-
als.
4.v Established and actively used career rules for research, it and non-it positions, and related
internal evaluation system for all employees.
4.vi Increasing use of tools to support work–life balance.
4.vii Professional hr team that employees turn to with confidence with issues they need to
address.
tools for achieving strategic objectives
4.a Promoting ics to the public (outside the university) including the form of ics as an employer
suitable for parents, women and other disadvantaged groups; active involvement
of employees in this process.
4.b Introducing mentoring.
4.c Transparent job advertisements, including an indication of remuneration, number of vacancies,
career opportunities and information on the selection process.
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4.d Introducing bilingual internal communication, support for the development of employees’
language skills.
4.e Establishing an internal forum for parents to share experiences in the field of reconciling
family and work at ics, an internal promo of existing possibilities of reconciling work and
family at ics.
4.f Continuously improving the internal employee evaluation system, flexible intervals concerning
job positions, active cooperation in developing it support for the evaluation sys-
tem.
4.g Introducing a system of internal education, both in professional and especially soft knowledge;
use of e-learning courses and training; creation of a specific training program for
senior employees (especially middle management); creation of internal workshops for
members of the selection committees.
4.h Creating a clear and simple process for complaints from employees and the active use
of information, suggestions and data obtained from employees to improve and solve the
work environment and individual problems.
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
5 MU Professional IT Background
strategic priorities
5.1 ics is the expert service center and guarantor of professional it services for mu, which
proactively develops with the help of “state of the art” procedures, using the results of
the own research and development and with the increasing use of automation, controlled
based on collected operational data by bi /ai procedures.
5.2 mu is the organization with entirely digitized economic processes, and ics is the guarantor
of their creation, maintenance and optimization.
5.3 mu is the organization with the modern background for working with bibliographic data.
Activities in this area are further divided into the following areas:
Information Systems
5.4 ics operates and continuously develops a new generation of erp systems for mu.
5.5 ics is the accepted leader in the development of erp systems for higher education.
5.6 ics is the creator and guarantor of the mu integration platform for it systems and applications,
which provide data and functionality primarily (but not only) in the field of economics
and human resources and is at the same time methodology and holder of know-how in
the field of integration of information systems at MU (business and process analysis, enterprise
architecture and integration, sw development).
5.7 ics is the leading partner in creating management information systems (mis) for decisionmaking
on all levels of management (Data-Driven University).
Cybersecurity Facilities and Services
5.8 ics is the guarantor of a secure it environment of the university, the bearer of the principle
of “security by design,” and the active partner in defining and implementing mu security
policies.
5.9 csirt–mu is the respected and recognized expert workplace at the national and international
level, working closely with national and international authorities and organizations
in cybersecurity and cyber defense and with leading academic institutions in the Czech
Republic.
5.10 csirt–mu is the first choice for external partners in cooperation with the university in
cybersecurity and cyber defense.
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IT Services
5.11 In close cooperation with faculty and other workplaces, ics provides a comprehensive
portfolio of it services across mu and is the guarantor of their further development following
modern trends in it.
5.12 ics is the guarantor of modern it resources for flexible cooperation and the methodology
of their effective use.
5.13 ics is the guarantor and methodology in the field of management of mu it services.
E-infrastructure Services
5.14 ics develops and provides a leading it infrastructure for large-scale computing (hpc) and
work with large datasets, including environments and tools for their advanced analysis
(even with the use of artificial intelligence methods); ics is the integrator of computing
and storage capacities for mu.
5.15 ics provides and operates it infrastructure facilities for all it services, whether on-site (at
mu hardware) or in the cloud (using commercial and community solutions).
5.16 mu e-Infrastructure is suitably integrated into the national e-infrastructure and it thematic
parts infrastructures and is part of the eosc environment in the Czech Republic; ics is a
leader in the field of work with and efficient use of large and powerful distributed systems.
5.17 ics is the respected partner and the first choice in the field of storage and further work
with sensitive data.
key results and indicators
5.i Successful implementation of the selected new generation erp system, ensuring its operation
and extension by a module crm and other functionality according to the university’s
needs.
5.ii Architecture is created, and subsequently, an integration platform for information systems
at mu is implemented.
5.iii Platform for creating data warehouses is created; it is used in the implementation of mis
and deployment in university agendas
5.iv The system of coordinated collection and management of requirements is established
and routinely operated, including relevant workflows and their semi-automated evaluation
using bi / ai tools.
5.v Continuously increasing reliability and availability of key university systems, ensuring fast
recovery after a failure.
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
5.vi Selection, implementation and operation of a new mu library system.
5.vii Provision and implementation of projects to support operational cybersecurity, usually as
the leader of these projects.
tools for achieving strategic objectives
5.a Strengthening the security of mu cyberspace with an overlap to other universities, using
research results implemented at ics.
5.b Ensuring the identification of legal obligations arising from applicable legislation and adequate
response to them (e.g., zokb).
5.c Developing the innovative approaches and open-source tools that will be recognized and
used by the Czech Republic and the eu’s security community.
5.d Constructing and operating the infrastructure for processing classified information to implement
security projects and cooperation with state security forces.
5.e Setting up the advanced management of licenses used by mu (license life cycle).
5.f Completing service management implementation in cooperation and with the active involvement
of the it community at mu.
5.g Identification of critical it systems of mu, creation and testing of Disaster Recovery plans.
5.h Active cancellation and consolidation of services and systems that do not support the mu
strategy.
5.i Adapting the it infrastructure to provide data for collection and operation evaluation. Extracting
infrastructure data for decision-making at all levels of the university.
5.j Developing the modern data network, implementation of modern technologies, a capacity
expansion for scientific data transfers, high flexibility, close collaboration with the cesnet
association.
5.k Ensuring a competitive data and computing infrastructure (including setting up for its coordinated
demand and funding) for demanding scientific applications (e.g., research in
the field of biotechnology, medicine, advanced materials, etc.).
5.l Widespread deployment of virtual environments to support r&d at mu, such as environments
for the use of ai technologies, environment for implementing practical training (simulated/emulated
infrastructures), etc.
5.m Building data and computing infrastructure to develop, simulate, and test autonomous
systems based on artificial intelligence (ai).
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5.n Identification and use of commercial platforms in areas where this path shows greater
benefit/effectiveness. For common user data use commercial platforms providing the
most favorable price/performance ratio (e.g., ms o365).
5.o Developing tools and procedures for working with sensitive data and special categories
of personal data (especially medical documentation), obtaining certification for storage
and further processing of sensitive give.
5.p In close cooperation with the cesnet association and other institutions, design, implementation
and further development of tools for long-term storage of digital data (so-called
ltp), especially in connection with building data repositories for scientific data.
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The Strategic Plan of the ICS for the Years 2021–2028
6 Institution Management and Infrastructure
strategic priorities
6.1 By 2028 latest, operate in the own university modern building satisfying standards of a
significant it workplace and an attractive employer in the field of it and related applied
research.
6.2 Ensure a highly robust and efficient it background for the university by deploying to three
geographically separate localities.
6.3 Develop and implement a strategy for long-term sustainable development of the university’s
e-infrastructure, with the involvement of all its components.
6.4 Provide a well-structured data warehouse for storing data from the university’s operation
and its buildings, operate an environment and tools that allow such collected data to be
continuously evaluated for the needs of informed management of the operation of facilities
and other assets university.
key results and indicators
6.i Construction of a modern computer room in ukb (FarmaHub), complying with current and
expected future safety, capacity, and environmental standards, emphasizing the ecological
operation of energy-intensive equipment.
6.ii Construction of a modern computer hall within the reconstruction and completion of the
Botanická complex.
6.iii Create, develop and provide a warehouse, methodology and tools for data processing using
ai principles for building management systems.
Institute of Computer Science MU
Šumavská 416/15 • 602 00 Brno • CZ
info@ics.muni.cz • +420 5 4949 2100
www.ics.muni.cz