FONDAZIONE SISTEMA TOSCANA

Their core work

Fondazione Sistema Toscana is a Tuscan foundation focused on digital media, cultural innovation, and immersive technologies. They develop multimedia content management solutions, design participatory cultural platforms for social innovation, and build extended reality (XR) experiences that bridge physical and digital spaces. Their work sits at the intersection of technology and culture, applying digital tools — from content publishing platforms to multi-user mixed reality environments — to enrich cultural engagement and creative industries.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FST began with practical digital media work — multimedia content management and publishing tools (EMMA, 2017) — then moved into culturally-driven social innovation platforms (CultureLabs, 2018). By 2020, their focus shifted decisively toward immersive technologies: extended reality, mixed reality, and multisensory interaction design (BRIDGES). The trajectory shows a clear move from 2D digital content toward spatial, multi-user immersive experiences rooted in cultural applications.

FST is moving toward immersive XR platforms with a cultural and creative industries angle — expect them to pursue projects combining mixed reality with heritage, education, or participatory culture.

How they like to work

FST has always participated as a partner, never coordinating, which suggests they contribute specialized digital media and design capabilities rather than leading large research agendas. With 20 unique partners across 8 countries from just 3 projects, they work in medium-to-large consortia and are not locked into repeat partnerships. This makes them an accessible, flexible contributor — easy to bring into a new consortium without pre-existing alliance constraints.

FST has collaborated with 20 distinct partners across 8 European countries through their three projects. Their network is moderately broad for a small portfolio, reflecting participation in diverse, multi-country consortia rather than tight bilateral partnerships.

What sets them apart

FST occupies an unusual niche as a Tuscan foundation that combines cultural sector expertise with hands-on digital technology development — from content platforms to XR environments. Unlike pure tech companies, they bring cultural context and social innovation thinking to immersive technology projects. For consortium builders, they offer a rare combination: a non-commercial, culturally embedded organization that can develop and pilot digital experiences in one of Europe's richest cultural landscapes.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CultureLabs
  Their largest funded project (EUR 290,190), exploring digital tools for social innovation in the cultural sector — an unusual intersection.
• BRIDGES
  Their most technically advanced project, developing a hybrid physical-digital multi-user XR platform aimed at industry uptake of immersive technologies.