Further Development Strategy of CESNET a. l. e.

The CESNET Association was founded in 1996 by all the universities in the Czech Republic, together with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The main goals of the Association include the development and operation of the National Research and Education Network of the Czech Republic (the CR NREN), research and development of advanced network technologies and applications, and dissemination of related information.

1. Mission of the Association

The Association endeavors to be a center of internationally comparable research in the area of high-speed computer networks, providing a National Research Network offering a high standard of services both to the members and partners of the Association. The purpose the Association sees in its existence is the development and support of joint research and development information infrastructure, particularly high-speed data networks. The objective is to conveniently connect domestic research teams and universities and to ensure appropriate participation of the research, science and education system of the Czech Republic in prospective research trends within an international scope.

These goals are achieved by the Association in particular through the following means:

Support of research and development in the sphere of new information technology applications, especially in high-speed data networks.
Implementation of new network elements and products in non-standard research and education conditions.
Development of international cooperation with similar organizations in partner countries on an international, and particularly a European, level.
Operation and development of a high-speed backbone network, supporting high-quality connection of the Association members and partners to this network.
Utilization of the Association organization structure to support collective participation of the Czech Republic research and development organizations in international programs aiming at a higher usage level of the data communication and international data resources.
Provision of non-routine, unique services to authorities coordinating the research and development activities in the Czech Republic, based on non-standard utilization of advanced IT and telecommunications equipment in the research and development environment.

With this objective in mind and using the aforementioned resources, the Association develops its activities in the spheres defined by the Founding Contract of the Association and other basic documents. The activities of the Association focus on its members – public universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic – as well as on other universities, high schools and elementary schools, research organizations and teams, libraries, university hospitals, and public administration bodies – especially those taking care of the research and development organization.

Consistently following the initiative and common interests of its members and other partners, the Association is built around their creative potential and places a main emphasis on respecting their needs. The Association activities are based on a cooperation of its organizational units with computing and information centers and technical, research, and scientific workers of the Association members and other partners.

2. Current State of the Association

The Association now comprises 27 members from the sector of public universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The Association financing sources are member contributions, a national budget contribution for the research plan implementation and other income resulting from the Association activities. The total income is reinvested to support the Association activities within its mission.

3. Association Activities Development Trends in Near Future

The principal activities of the Association have been stipulated in the Founding Contract and further specified in the Statutes of the Association:

To secure the research and development in the field of information and communication technologies and their applications.
To secure the provision of education services within research and development using the high-speed National Research and Education Network.
To secure the following for its members and the contributing organizations they have established: development and operation of a computer network interconnecting their networks and metropolitan networks; establishment of jointly used technical, communication and software resources and information services; testing of new applications; cooperation and compatibility of the members' activities on a level comparable with state-of-the-art education and research networks abroad (including the Internet access).
To secure, in cooperation with its members, the long-term development, acquisition and use of high quality communication and information technologies based on the Internet and similar modern systems.
To support, against the reimbursement of related expenses, the propagation of erudition, culture and knowledge, cooperation with members to broaden their experience, expansion of applications of up-to-date information technologies, and improvement of the quality of the network by gaining additional participants, information sources and services.

To perform its principal activities in a quality manner and bring the services provided to members and other institutions to a state-of-the-art level, the Association will concentrate specifically on the following areas within its development:

3.1. Research and Development Area

The main contribution of the Association consists in the fact that the computer network operated by the Association offers features normally unavailable on the market. These enhanced features do not relate only to the quantity (a very high transfer rate) but also to the quality. The most significant benefit is the integration of a number of interconnected advanced services in the network – from network services through middleware up to application services. This high integration level is made possible mainly due to the close cooperation of the Association with its members and other connected institutions.

A strategic objective of the Association is the development of an integrated user environment oriented towards multimedia, distributed applications, and real-time work. An integral part of this objective must be mobility support and high protection of data and user privacy.

The possibilities concerning the research of computer networks and their new applications in operating (production) networks are rather limited, which is why there are experimental research networks being established both on the international and national levels. Getting involved in these activities with great success, the Association will maintain this strategy (e. g., workers performing the implementation have joined the premier ranks in the field of optical transfer systems and the CzechLight node was the second such node in Europe). Results of experimental activities often indicate the development trend for production networks.

In order to maintain its status of a technical innovator and to keep the National Research and Development Network at a top level, the Association must dedicate sufficient capacities to the research and development of network services and their applications. The priority activities will include:

Research and testing of advanced computer network services and methods for providing such services. Currently, especially high-speed routing methods, transfer optimization in high-capacity extensive networks, multimedia data transfers (voice, video), mobile technologies, or natural conversion to the IP version 6 must be emphasized.
Participation in international research optical networks and network technology projects. Connection to the GLIF global experimental lambda network and provision of its services to all workplaces that will be able to utilize the international lambda services for applied research will be a priority.
Monitoring and participation in the development of data transfer technologies (optical technologies, hybrid and high-speed networks) and assessment of the suitability of these technologies for deployment in the CR NREN. The Association will focus primarily on those areas where it succeeds in achieving internationally acknowledged results.
Keeping abreast with top level European and/or world research at least within a selected range of activities, such as the Customer Empowered Fiber Networks concept application or programmable hardware development.
Achieving comparable results in other research areas.
Research and deployment of tools and methods for resource sharing and coordinated solutions in extensive dynamic virtual organizations, i. e., creation and operation of a computing Grid and/or other similar metasystems (support of demanding calculations, large data set processing etc.).
Steps leading to a closer connection of our own research with research capacities of the Association members. The objective is to link the activities and mutually share capacities, in particular within the research aimed at network applications. In this sector, obtaining more significant results is very difficult unless a close cooperation with members is ensured.
Active participation in international projects relating to the given topics and cooperation with essential domestic and foreign workplaces. Participation in the GN2 project research activities, cooperation with the Internet2 workgroups and the deepest possible involvement in the 6th EU Framework Program is of a particular importance.
Presentation and propagation of the results achieved. The Association will use suitable presentation forms to support interest in the utilization of advanced network services and applications among employees and students of the Association members and other connected institutions. The Association will pay attention also to the presentation of results to a wider professional public, maintaining general knowledge of the CR NREN capabilities.
The Association will endeavor to strengthen its role as a top technical innovator in the area of Internet and communication technologies, both in the national and international contexts.

When ensuring all of these activities, it is imperative to retain flexibility for selecting prospective research and development trends, good knowledge of the problems and an efficient cooperation of the Association with its members and between the members themselves.

3.2. Application and Research Support

In addition to its own research, the Association supports the research of other institutions by operating and developing a backbone network in the Czech Republic serving the needs of science, research, and education. Therefore, the most important objective is to keep the parameters of this network on levels comparable with those of advanced countries, enabling domestic institutions to fully participate in international projects, for which an adequate communication infrastructure is a must.

The application area is determined mainly by utilizing unique National Research Network properties, allowing implementation of innovative projects. It becomes obvious that such network projects require – in addition to a data network – also a web of contacts and cooperation. Insufficient habits in terms of network cooperation are currently the biggest obstacle for the development of large networking projects. The application development must focus mainly on the Association members and other connected institutions. Many projects will emerge spontaneously as a result of their cooperation. However, creation of projects often falls behind due to a lack of coordination and mutually provided information, with users being unaware of the existence of a suitable application or a team dealing with a given topic. The Association will provide enough information on the network capabilities and relevant activities. It is also desirable to exert a higher effort concerning selected projects that can present methods and results of the network cooperation, while having a minimal chance of being established spontaneously. The Association will directly participate in these projects, incorporating them into its research and development work as a subject of great importance.

Specific objectives in this area are as follows:

Applying results of research and development activities while developing the CR NREN so that the network offers state-of-the-art technologies and services under economically affordable conditions. Getting involved in associated international activities and making use of the possibilities offered (e. g., connection to the GÉANT network and its successors).
Designing a backbone network to provide reliable and high-quality services for the common Internet applications of its participants and at the same time to offer adequate capacities and properties for performing demanding experiments or running new applications.
Increasing the backbone network security and resilience.
Deploying latest communication services in practice (e. g., Voice-over-IP, Video-over-IP, videoconferences) and informing users about their features. Attempting to achieve maximum availability and simplicity of advanced services from the user viewpoint.
Developing the existing application platforms (such as the MetaCentrum project) and increasing the quality of services they offer to users. Taking part in international application projects and activities.
Actively seeking for advanced user applications and providing them with support, especially in the area of infrastructure, technologies, and know-how. Supporting the deployment of modern applications in the Association members' networks, e. g., by means of pilot projects.
Informing connected institutions about the network capabilities and important projects taking place in the network. Initiating, coordinating and supporting projects of advanced network applications in which several connected participants are involved.
An important and rapidly developing application area is the distance learning. The Association will participate in these activities not only as an infrastructure provider but also as a provider of the technological and consulting support and as a supplier of necessary equipment or services, etc.
Coordinating collective efforts leading to the use of multi-licenses for accessing databases of scientific and scientometric data and professional publications (e. g., the Web of Science).
Developing on-line transfers of massive data files, e. g., for the needs of supercomputing centers abroad and in the Czech Republic.

3.3. Economic Area

The financial resources required to ensure the state-of-the-art level of the CR NREN are very high and exceed the economic capabilities of the Association members. The situation in the Czech Republic is no exception – most of the developed countries contribute to the operation of their academic backbone networks; e. g., the GN2 European project is financially supported from the European Union budget. The CR NREN financing is subsidized through an institutional research plan. The planning sheet expects financing for the period of 2004 to 2010. This source of income is a key one and its preservation and efficient use belongs to the most important priorities of the Association activities. A strategic goal is to make the country commit to the long-term support of the CR NREN and its development.

Financing strategy:

Performing active financial policy while increasing the value of the financial property owned by the Association.
Seeking for other financing methods that could strengthen and complement the research plan financing; seeking for additional income sources. This area also requires the closest possible cooperation with the Association members.
Adequately responding to changing conditions and requirements within the research plan implementation.

Economic priorities for further Association development are as follows:

Implementing the research plan entitled The Optical National Research Network and Its New Applications to a top quality so that financing for 2005 to 2010 is secured.
Performing analytical and monitoring activities leading to acquirement of other financial sources for the Association. This sphere concerns mainly the search for suitable grant programs, projects, and similar financial sources. It is also imperative to create mechanisms for locating partners for submitting joint grant projects on an international level.
Participating in the creation of opportunities and grant programs and monitoring activities in this area. Helping create other national and foreign funds for financing the Association activities.
Elaborating mechanisms for bringing the research and development results into practice, utilizing them to generate profit. These mechanisms must include a financial motivation of workers dealing with given topics.
Diversifying the Association financing, reaching a higher level of independence on individual financial sources. In addition to the currently prevailing budget financing, exerting efforts to strengthen the entrepreneurial and fund financing.
Recruiting foreign and domestic sponsors and partners (companies) ready to support scientific, research and development activities of the Association in exchange for resulting reputation or access to the results produced.

4. Ways and Means for Achieving the Required Development

4.1. Backbone Network Development

Development of the CR NREN technologies is bound and will be bound to the technologies of connected networks – both those of individual Association members and international networks. Since the international networks often have a technological advantage, defining trends for the upcoming period, the CR NREN must function as a mediator of these technologies and as an initiator of their deployment in the members' networks. This brings in the following specific objectives:

Developing the gigabit network so that it matches the GÉANT European network and its successors in terms of technology. The current trend is an effort to maximally simplify the network technology and provide on-demand L1 circuits. The Association will follow this direction.
Implementing a backbone network in a way that prevents the experiments of the Association and its members from disrupting the production services, eliminating the negative influence on the routine operation of connected networks.
Allowing creation of virtual private networks (VPNs) within the CR NREN, and possibly within an international range. Using a suitable method to implement services with a defined quality and perhaps other advanced network infrastructure services.
Developing a unified authentication/authorization platform implemented as middleware, to which individual services provided by the Association or its members can be linked.
Developing the infrastructure needed to ensure user mobility and easy access of users to networking services from any network point.

4.2. Cooperation with External Entities

Good cooperation with members and other connected institutions is a key prerequisite for the future of the Association, especially in the research and development area. The capacities and experience of these entities in this field are incomparably higher. There is a large space for mutually beneficial cooperation that is now utilized just partially.

The steps that may remedy this situation are as follows:

Using suitable means (on-line media, seminars, printed materials) to inform employees and students of connected entities about the Association activities, the CR NREN status, and cooperation options being offered.
Creating mixed work teams focused on specific problems. Trying to motivate members of existing teams with various professional skills to utilize modern communication technologies.
Getting the managers of members and connected institutions involved in work in projects of the Association in an appropriate way.
Initiating creation of theses and dissertations covering topics relating to the Association activities and cooperating with their authors. Appropriately motivating students and department heads to cooperate. In cooperation and after agreement with the Association members, acting as heads (external supervisors) for theses and year projects and within the PhD student preparation, working in dissertation defense commissions.
Supporting publishing activities focused on the area of computer networks and their applications. Utilize the "CESNET edition" that was founded, within which employees of members can publish relevant materials. The Association will endeavor to popularize achieved results also among the wider public.
Creating a strategy in the intellectual property area. Defining mechanisms for protecting achieved results and mechanisms for deciding which results should be protected as intellectual property.
The Association is open and technically prepared to support activities in the area of telecommunication and information technologies development within the education, research, and perhaps some similar spheres.

4.3. Fund Management

An efficient tool for developing the financial structure of the Association is the fund financing. With this financing method, the Association can perform proactive financial policy, especially when supporting the further and wider application of research and development results in practical terms. We expect the following types of funds to be used:

Purpose Fund

The financial source and/or output area of every purpose fund is exactly and firmly allocated.

Currently, there is the CESNET Development Fund based on the commercial network sale revenues. The Association saves fund financial resources using public bonds and/or other low-risk financing means, aiming to generate profit. The profit is then used for the following purposes in particular:

increasing the fund capital resources
supporting the research and development activities of the Association through development projects
stabilizing the Association employees
supporting the educational and professional advancement of the Association and its members' employees in areas related to the Association activities

Entrepreneurial Fund

This is an additional source for the Association itself. It is used to finance promising projects or commercial plans where a subsequent financial gain is expected. Its financial resources can therefore be utilized as an expected returnable investment on the Association commercial activities. The total level of resources used in this way is defined by the fund statute.

The Association must be prepared to establish other funds if needed.

4.4. Personnel and Organization Structure

The objectives defined by this strategy require an operative configuration of the personnel and organization structure. The personnel and organization structure approval procedure is relatively simple; this allows sufficiently fast responses to current inputs. The basic fiscal year configuration ensures a stable team of highly-qualified professionals for the Association, guaranteeing main research activities and bringing the results into practice.

In addition, the Association can – e. g., should a short-term project occur – recruit employees for the time required by the project in a flexible way.

To optimize the procedures, the following should be ensured:

Taking due care of the professional advancement of employees and a quality increase of the personnel structure. Using suitable measures to stabilize key employees.
Ensuring substitutability of key workers and their availability in emergency cases.
Specifying mechanisms for flexible adaptation of the personnel and organizational structure of the Association to current needs (e. g., establishment of a division or recruitment of employees for a specific time needed to implement a given project).
Cooperating, especially with employees of the Association members including managers, to secure high-quality and operative links of the CR NREN to the metropolitan and local networks.
Creating mechanisms for an efficient horizontal and vertical information flow among all people working on the research plan and for planning activities to ensure maximum efficiency of the research plan implementation.

Prague, July 8, 2004