The Economic Activities & Innovation Department of the Province of Milan is engaged in promoting and supporting the economic development in the area of Milan through some activities aimed at favouring local economic development, technology innovation and new technology diffusion and encouraging the creation of new enterprises.
To carry out this project the Province of Milan relies on involvement and cooperation between social, economic and institutional bodies working on the territory. Cetra website, in particular, represents the first initiative developed in the area of Milan to create a networking system between all companies operating in the following fields: training, research and technology transfer.


Cetra has been created by Politecnico Innovazione, a consortium of Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, which provided advanced services in the field of technological innovation to small and medium-sized enterprises in years 2000-2007.
In 2008, Politecnico Innovazione merged with Assotec Scarl and created ALINTEC Scarl – Alleanze per l’innovazione tecnologica – a new organisation linking companies, public administration and universities.


BIC La Fucina helped to develop Cetra contents. La Fucina is a Business Innovation Center, partecipated by Province of Milan.
BIC's mission is promoting and supporting entrepreneurial development. As concerns Innovation BIC provides services to SMEs involved in technological transfer programs: technology check-ups, links with research centers and information about funding opportunities.

The project has been started thanks to the law 16 December 1996, n° 35 "Interventi regionali per lo sviluppo delle imprese minori".