The staff of the Faculty of Computer Systems and Automation (FCSA) of the Vinnytsia National Technical University (VNTU) have been participating in the international project MASTIS (Establishing Modern Master-level Studies in Information Systems) under the European program ERASMUS + for the fourth year, aiming at the development of a modern master’s degree programs in the field of information systems.

In the current year, the deadline for project completion is completed, so the last of the 3 reporting working meetings took place in Ukraine from April 9 to April 12, 2019. In the final meeting was attended by representatives from the University Lumiere Lyon 2 (France), University of Münster (Germany), University of Agder (Norway), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), University of Donja Gorica (Montenegro), University “Mediterranean” Podgorica (Montenegro) and representatives of Ukrainian partners – Kharkiv National University of Economics named Semen Kuznets, National technical University of Ukraine “Kyiv Polytechnic Institute named Igor Sikorsky”, National University “Lviv Polytechnic”, National technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”, Kherson State University and Vinnytsia National Technical University.

The first two days of the working meeting took place in the Lviv, at the National University “Lviv Polytechnic”. During this period, MASTIS participants got acquainted with the master’s works that were carried out within the framework of the project, reports on the piloting of the training course “Entrepreneurship and Innovations” were presented, the results of the dissemination of the project activities were presented. Also, for the project participants, excursions to the school of start-ups of the National University “Lviv Polytechnic” and the Ukrainian Catholic University were organized.

The last two days of the working meeting took place in Vinnytsia, at VNTU. At the opening of the working meeting on April 11, the participants of the project were congratulated by the rector of the VNTU Volodymyr Grabko, Director of the Department for International Cooperation and Regional Development of Vinnytsia Regional State Administration Volodymyr Merezhko, Head of the Center for International Affairs of VNTU Mykola Pradivliany. Also, the dean of FCSA, the coordinator of the MASTIS project from VNTU Oleg Bisikalo, as well as the director of the “Common cause” IT-company, associate professor Volodymyr Kotsyubinsky, spoke about the close cooperation between IT-companies and VNTU in the Vinnytsia.

After official congratulations and opening the meeting, the head of the department of computer control systems of VNTU Volodymyr Dubovoy presented a report of piloting the course “IT infrastructure”. Then associate professor of the Department of AIIT VNTU Volodymyr Garmash presented to the project participants the training laboratories of FCSA, which were equipped at the expense of the funds provided within the framework of the MASTIS project. Also, a tour of the Vinnitsa National Technical University was organized for the project participants. A positive impression was left in the participants of MASTIS after visiting the exposition of an art museum, which is no similar in any technical universities of Ukraine.

In the second half of the first working day the participants visited the office of the partner company of the project “Internet Advertising RIA” – a subsidiary of the Estonian company “RIA.com Marketplaces”. The employees of the company presented the directions of its activities and organized a tour of the company, which is part of the largest Internet media corporation operating in the Ukrainian market. In frameworks of the MASTIS project, an agreement was concluded between “Internet Advertising RIA”  and the FCSA. The purpose of the deal is to regularly analyze the conditions in the labor market and to build the skills and competencies of students and masters of IT specialties, to develop new and make operational changes to current training courses, conduct practical training sessions on web-analytics and prepare future employees of the Internet media corporation.

Also, within the framework of the MASTIS project, an agreement between the “Vinnytsia IT-Academy”, which is part of the “RIA.com Marketplaces”, and the FCSA was concluded. On the basis of competitive selection, students of the faculty have the opportunity to study special courses in Vinnytsia IT-academy free of charge.

At the beginning of the second working day, the participants of the MASTIS project heard a report by the lecturer of the department of the CCS of VNTU Oleg Kovalyuk about the master’s thesis defense by the students of the project, who personally reported on the results of their own research, as well as a report by the head of the Vinnytsia Business Club Vyacheslav Kalinichenko on cooperation with VNTU.

For participants of the project, an excursion to the office of “LetyShops”, a partner company of the MASTIS project and one of the most well-known IT-companies in the Vinnytsia, which started its business as a startup 5 years ago, was organized.

“LetyShops” takes part in shaping the competences of students and masters of IT-specialties, developing and making changes to the training courses, ensuring the practice and training of future employees.

After that, the participants of the MASTIS project visited a transparent office and situational center of the Vinnytsia City Council, which is also a partner of the MASTIS project and is interested in training specialists in the field of information systems. An unforgettable impression on foreign and domestic guests made the high level of organizational and technical support of municipal information systems, the real benefit for the citizens of the city from the introduction of modern IT in cooperation with scientists of VNTU.

In the second half of the second working day, the project participants heard the report by Professor Pavlo Kulakov on dissemination and  sustainability of  MASTIS project results at VNTU and the report by Associate Professor Yevhen Palamarchuk on the JetIQ educational process support system, as well as presentations of their own start-ups by students and postgraduates from VNTU moderated by associate professor Vyacheslav Kovtun.

Participants of the meeting recognized that the experimental Master’s program “Information Systems and Internet of Things”, has been developed in the result of the project, fully complies with modern European standards for information systems. Such an educational proposal for the FKSA VNTU will ensure student mobility in line with the objectives of the European Union program ERASMUS + and the MASTIS project. In particular, for the first time in VNTU, eight 5-credit courses are included into the Master’s degree program:

1. Information System Development and Deployment;
2. Information Technology Infrastructure;
3. Enterprise Architecture Management;
4. MIS and Data Warehousing;
5. Information System Security;
6. Innovations and Entrepreneurship;
7. Information System Strategy;
8. Management of Information System Projects.

Important difference of the experimental program that promotes student mobility practically, is parallel teaching all courses in English and Ukrainian. During preparation, students receive all teaching materials in two languages, but their qualification Master’s theses are performed and defended in English. All persons with a Bachelor’s degree without a specialization restriction,  in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Science, can participate in the competition for the master’s degree in the program “Information Systems and Internet of Things”.