Aster in located in Bologna (Italy) and employs over 50 people with a variety of education backgrounds and professional qualifications. The annual turnover is about 5 Ml Euro.
ASTER is the Consortium among the Emilia-Romagna Regional Government - which is its main shareholder - 5 Universities, 2 public research centres, regional Chambers of Commerce and Enterprise Associations. Its mission - as stated by the Emilia-Romagna Regional Law n.7/2002 - is to promote the regional productive system through the enhancement of its competitiveness and innovation. Aster is also in charge of coordinating actions to develop the regional industrial research and to promote knowledge and competence transfers.
Aster is responsible for the implementation of the Emilia-Romagna High Technology Network (funded by the ERDF 2007-2013). This network is made of regional industrial research labs and technological innovation centres, organized in Thematic Platforms. Among them, the Energy & Environment Platform represents the main tools to favour the diffusion of technologies and competence matching between research and industry.
Aster has an area for "business start-up" and runs several supporting programmes for new companies with high knowledge contents. The results of these programmes have been massive from their start: only as
regards business projects, since 2000, over 1800 people have had the chance to check their business idea feasibility and be supported in the business early stages.
Aster is committed in the main national and EU networks targeting research-industry collaboration and innovation diffusion such as: Europe Enterprise Network of which Aster is member through the consortium SIMPLER; E-RAIN European Network of Regional Innovation Agencies; ERIK Network focused on regional economy based on knowledge.