SIEMENS

According to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, who lived 2,500 years ago, the only constant in the universe is change. Today this insight is more valid than ever before. Raw materials are growing scarce, and the earth’s climate is at risk. Our energy supply must be put on a more sustainable foundation, and we must use our resources more efficiently. The global economy is also changing. In 2000, only a fourth of world trade took place between developing countries and emerging economies; today that figure has risen to 40 percent. At the same time, China’s innovative power has increased enormously. For example, the number of Chinese patents being registered at the European Patent Office today is 100 times greater than it was in 2000. What’s more, the booming economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China are being joined on the global economic stage by vigorous new players such as Mexico, Turkey, and Colombia.

Meanwhile, the challenges we face are becoming more complex — whether the issue is urban infrastructures or the transition to a sustainable energy economy, through which Germany intends to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Without highly integrated smart structures — in power networks, transportation systems, and buildings — potential solutions will not work. Here too, change is occurring in many areas. For example, the volume of data being stored worldwide doubles every two years, and soon the number of devices sharing information will be greater than the world’s population.

The ways in which companies deal with this steady process of change will determine their competitiveness. In order to maintain its leading position as a technology provider and open up new markets, Siemens is addressing these changing challenges with great openness and flexibility. Siemens’ international research and development network is playing a key role in this regard. Cooperative projects with top universities are a decisive factor here, as are the skills of Siemens’ experts and its close connections with its customers around the globe. In this issue of Pictures of the Future, the section entitled “The New Global Economy” reveals how Siemens is developing and implementing innovative solutions in India, Russia, Turkey, and Latin America; planning factories all over the world; and keeping logistics chains intact, even in very difficult situations.

One of the most important levers for coping with many challenges is the efficient use of energy and resources. This applies to companies and countries as well as to energy systems. Today, more than half of the primary energy we use is lost. This is inefficient, since waste heat can be used to generate power or purify water. The problem of excess power from wind turbines, which often cannot be fed into the grid, can also be solved — our engineers are working on plants that transform it into hydrogen. And energy use in buildings can be minimized using computers, communications, and building automation technology. In fact, even power grids can be stabilized by means of targeted management of electricity use in networks of buildings, such as chain stores. This helps energy suppliers, saves money for building users, and helps to protect the environment.

Is it possible to digitally manage not only buildings but also entire cities? How can we find tiny leaks in drinking water networks that are thousands of kilometers long? And what will be the main features of tomorrow’s smart power grids? Finding ways of mastering such complex systems is another theme of this issue. In many cases, the answer can be found in sophisticated software concepts — platforms for virtual urban planning, software agents for balancing supply and demand in power grids, and a combination of sensors and smart evaluation algorithms that search for leaks in drinking water networks.

Experts at Siemens Corporate Technology locations worldwide are playing a key role in the search for all these new solutions. Whether the issue is research, development, production or new product testing, experts from Corporate Technology are contributing to every link of the value chain. In line with the company’s technology areas, they are safeguarding Siemens’ technological foundation through development and software services, while “lighthouse projects” guarantee an innovative future. In addition, a Siemens team supports startups and conducts precisely targeted searches for new ideas outside the current business portfolio. A strategic patent portfolio protects the company’s intellectual property.

Thanks to these measures, Corporate Technology ensures that Siemens maintains its competitive technological edge. To give just one example, the company attained first place at the European Patent Office by a wide margin in terms of the number of patent applications it submitted in 2011. And the creativity of Siemens employees has never been better. Today, each of our nearly 28,000 R&D employees submits twice as many inventions as just ten years ago. The world may be changing, but Siemens’ intense focus on innovation will remain undiminished.