Franca Fauci represents the Italian partner - the Foundation for Research and Innovation from Florence (FRI) - in the CD-ETA project. 

Over the years, Franca has held different positions. She was a PR Manager at the representative office of BIC-Puglia, which was part of a European network of around 150 quality-certified EU/BICs to promote the development of innovative start-ups and SMEs. She also held the position of an EU Senior Project Manager at UETP-Toscana, a consortium created by the 3 Tuscan Universities, where she managed and promoted European projects dealing with education and training. In 2010, she played a pivotal role in supporting the former President of Fondazione per la Ricerca e l'Innovazione (FRI) to set up the Foundation. Since then, she has been working for FRI in the field of technology transfer and higher education projects.