The UNL Programme started in 1996, as an initiative of the [http://www.ias.unu.edu Institute of Advanced Studies] of the [http://www.unu.edu United Nations University] in Tokyo, Japan. In January 2001, the United Nations University set up an autonomous organization, the [http://www.undl.org UNDL Foundation], to be responsible for the development and management of the UNL Programme. The Foundation, a non-profit international organisation, ishas an independent ofidentity from the United Nations University, although it has special links with the UN. It inherited from the UNU/IAS the mandate toof implementimplementing the UNL Programme inso orderthat toit can fulfillfulfil its mission.
From the very beginning, a consortium of university departments from all regions of the world has been engaged in developing the UNL. This isThat's the UNL Society, a global-scale network of R&D teams, involving about 200 specialists in computer science and linguistics, who are at work creating the linguistic resources and developing the web structure of the UNL System. The UNL Centre provides technological support and co-ordinates the implementation of the Programme.
The Programme has already reachedcrossed important milestones. The overall architecture of the UNL System has been developed, along with a set of basic software and tools necessary for its functionfunctioning. These are being tested and improved. ManyA vast amount of linguistic resources from the various native languages already under development, andas manywell associatedas from the UNL expressionsexpression, havehas been accumulated in the last few years. Moreover, the technical infrastructure for expanding these resources is already in place, thus facilitating the participation of many more languages in the UNL system goingfrom forwardnow on. A growing number of scientific papers and academic dissertations on the UNL are being published every year.
The most visible accomplishment so far is the recognition by the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) of the innovative character and industrial applicability of the UNL, which was obtained in May 2002 through the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). TheAcquiring acquisition ofthe patents (US patents 6,704,700 and 7,107,206) for the UNL is ana completely unprecedentednovel achievement within the United Nations.