Established in 1897, Fast - Federation of the Scientific and Technical Associations is an independent non-profit making association acknowledged by Decree of the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Scientific and Technology Research dated 30 October 1995. Fast groups the main national scientific associations with around 50.000 members mostly from industry, research, and technology development sector.The main activities of Fast focus on services to industries, research activities and training. In particular, it aims to: offer high level services to enterprises; facilitate the participation in European research and technological dissemination programmes; plan and implement advanced training courses; promote cultural debate, information and scientific dissemination.