The parks bring together companies, venture capitalists, universities, laboratories and research centres, with the aim of fostering the culture of innovation, increasing the competitiveness of private companies and creating a fertile and collaborative working environment. In the 1990s, a national programme extended the creation of technology parks to the whole nation, favouring the less developed areas. According to RIDITT, 44 science and technology parks are currently in operation in Italy, 6 of them are located in Lombardy (see Table 3.5).