Valais sees great need for masters in artificial intelligence

The demand for specialized developers in the field of artificial intelligence is revitalizing Switzerland's higher education landscape: In fall 2017, the University of Lugano had launched the first master's program in artificial intelligence (AI) in southern Switzerland. Now, the canton of Valais, together with FernUni Switzerland and the Idiap research institute in Martigny, is investing 1.3 million francs to set up its own "novel" master's program in artificial intelligence, as Valais CVP state councillor Christophe Darbellay told the media in Sion on Tuesday.

Tourism, energy, industry or agriculture are economic sectors that are particularly strongly influenced by digitalization. And the use of artificial intelligence is one of the key elements in keeping up with digital development in these areas. Consequently, the need for expertise is very high, Darbellay said.

Full time employed by partner company

The Valais University program lasts three semesters. It is primarily aimed at holders of a bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent. According to the project partners, what is special about the Valais model is that students are employed full-time by a partner company to implement a project related to artificial intelligence.

Thanks to this first university master's degree in artificial intelligence integrated into the company, the canton of Valais is able to offer a novel solution not only for Valais, but for Switzerland in a broader sense, which at the same time creates jobs, the canton of Valais emphasizes. Tourism, energy, industry or agriculture are economic sectors that are particularly influenced by digitalization.

And the use of artificial intelligence is one of the key elements in keeping up with digital development in these areas, Darbellay said. Consequently, the need for expertise is very high.

Big ones poach graduates

The new course is designed to meet this growing need for theoretical and practical skills in artificial intelligence of multinationals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The shortage, which is already emerging, also has an impact on Valais, as many developers specialized in the field of artificial intelligence trained by Idiap are poached by Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple or large Swiss companies.

The canton of Valais is committed to supporting the project in order to keep these skills in Valais or to attract them to the canton. The city of Martigny, the canton of Valais, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the University of Geneva and Swisscom are all involved in Idiap, which was founded in 1991. (SDA)