The Institutes

In Italy, Angelo Dalle Molle initially established the Barbariga Study Center (https://www.centrostudibarbariga.org/) to invest in public welfare. The center funds initiatives that focus on improving life and well-being and supports projects that are consistent with the founder’s vision of « quality of life. » This approach allows for a variety of actions aimed at enhancing individual or community existence. Based on this solid ground, the Dalle Molle Foundation was later established in Switzerland and resulted in the creation of four well-known Swiss institutes briefly presented below : ISSCO, IDSIA, Mediplant, and Idiap Research Institute.

Located in Geneva, the ISSCO was created by the Dalle Molle Foundation in 1972 with the aim of developing a computerized machine translation system and conducting research in cognitive sciences and semantics. Since its creation, the institute has always strived to adopt an interdisciplinary strategy: linguistics, psychology, artificial intelligence, provided that all of them help in the understanding of language. Today, the institute has specialized in natural language processing and, in particular, in multilingual language processing in a number of areas such as machine translation, linguistic environment, multilingual generation, speech processing and data collection. Since 1976, the ISSCO has been entirely attached to the School of Translation and Interpretation (ETI) of the University of Geneva.

www.unige.ch

Located in Lugano (canton of Ticino, CH), IDSIA  was created by the Dalle Molle Foundation in 1988 with the mission of giving the machine the capacity to understand the world in which it evolves, and to adapt to it. To do this, it was a question of reproducing intelligent behaviors using the modeling of the necessary knowledge. By dedicating itself to the study of knowledge representation, IDSIA initially focused on two sides of this field. Part of the research focused on representation methodologies and associated tools. The other was related to more specific applications in support of theoretical work in the study of knowledge representation. Today associated with the University of Lugano and the SUPSI, the University Professional School of Italian-speaking Switzerland, IDSIA remains very active in fields as varied as machine learning (artificial neural networks, learning by reinforcement), artificial intelligence, operational research, complexity theory and robotics.

www.idsia.ch

Located in Conthey (Canton of Valais, CH), MEDIPLANT  was created by the Dalle Molle Foundation in 1988, in association with the State of Valais and the Swiss Confederation, with the mission of clarifying the genesis and functioning of parasitic structures in agriculture, and to propose crops that meet economic laws and ecological needs. Today, and in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Agricultural Research Station of Changins (VD), the HES-SO of Sion and Swiss Universities, MEDIPLANT carries out the domestication and genetic improvement of new medicinal or aromatic plants, based on quality criteria defined by users. MEDIPLANT focuses on plants adapted to mountain regions and seeks environmentally friendly cultivation techniques.

www.mediplant.ch

Located in Martigny (canton of Valais, CH), the Idiap was created by the Dalle Molle Foundation in 1991, notably to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Foundation. Created in collaboration with the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the municipal, cantonal and federal authorities, Idiap’s mission was to pursue high-level research in the fields of artificial intelligence related to human perception, particularly in the fields of pattern recognition and analysis, both visual and auditory. Today, the institute specializes in the management of multimedia information in the broadest sense, as well as in multimodal man-machine interactions. It has also extended its research fields to biometric recognition, social networks (fixed and mobile), and the use of computers to facilitate communication between humans (“computer mediators”) or to better exploit their potential for collaboration and creativity. In November 1996, the Idiap acquired the status of a research foundation (Fondation Idiap), now independent of the Foundation, whose founders are the City of Martigny, the State of Valais, the EPFL, the University of Geneva and Swisscom. A little later it took on the new identity of “Idiap Research Institute”. While remaining autonomous, the Idiap Research Institute is, since 2008, linked to the EPFL by a joint development plan.

www.idiap.ch