Siemens is rigorously executing its announced €2 billion investment strategy. Of this amount, the company plans to invest around €1 billion in Germany, thereby boosting the country’s innovative strength.
Global
warming, energy dependency and rising costs are among the most urgent problems
of our time. Hydrogen can play a key role in Germany’s energy future. The
community of Wunsiedel in Upper Franconia is showing how that is possible. In
Wunsiedel, one of Germany’s largest green hydrogen generation plants has now
been commissioned with the help of Siemens technology.
Siemens AG has
launched an open digital business platform, Siemens Xcelerator, to accelerate
digital transformation and value creation for customers of all sizes in
industry, buildings, grids and mobility. The business platform makes digital
transformation easier, faster and scalable.
Shifting freight transport to rail has its limitations. Therefore, a share of this transport will need to be carried out by trucks that combine reliable service with minimum environmental impact. The eHighway system is twice as efficient as conventional internal combustion engines. This Siemens Mobility innovation supplies trucks with power from an overhead contact line. This reduces local air pollution and contributes significantly to the decarbonization of the transport sector.
Siemens was
the first global industrial company to commit to carbon neutrality by 2030.
This commitment is not contingent on international treaties or regulations; it
is based on the understanding that we have a responsibility to protect our
planet. From 2014 to 2020, Siemens has been able to minimize the carbon
footprint of its own value chain by more than half (54%), thereby exceeding its
original goal of halving its global carbon-dioxide emissions by 2020.
The ICE 4 will be the backbone of the Deutsche Bahn's future long-distance network. In May 2011, the German national railway company concluded a framework agreement with Siemens Mobility for up to 300 trainsets. At this time the largest train contract that Siemens has ever won in its nearly 170 years of corporate history.
The ICE 4 sets new standards in intercity traffic. A unique train concept has been developed, that means it can be individually adapted to the requirements of various transport tasks. The modular drive concept is based on independent Powercars with identical traction technology, resulting in more flexibility than ever before. High operational availability is guaranteed by a large number of reliable systems with high redundancy.
All in all, DB will be receiving 1,511 cars with which it can configure 50 12-car, 50 13-car and 37 7-car trainsets. DB will keep two end cars in reserve. The 12-car and 13-car trainsets will be operated in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The shorter 7-car trains are planned for use in Germany and Austria.
In addition, Deutsche Bahn has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract for the revision of 40 ICE 4 trains.
The photo artist Herlinde Koelbl presents her international “Fascination of Science” project for the first time. She portrays 60 renowned Nobel Prize winners and scientists. Siemens Arts Program supports the project. The opening ceremony will take place at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Berlin on October 2, in the presence of the artist and the Managing Board of Siemens AG.
Around 10.400 young men and women worldwide – thereof around 7,300 in Germany – are currently enrolled in training or two-track programs at Siemens, making the industrial company one of the largest most innovative private providers of such programs in the world. Due to the great success of the German model, Siemens is increasingly offering two-track training, which combines theory and practice, to young people in countries outside Germany, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South Africa, India and the UK. These programs offer instruction in a wide range of commercial and, above all, technical fields. Courses are constantly being updated in a targeted fashion to prepare young people for the challenges of the future.Since the training year 2017, Siemens has integrated relevant digitalization topics, such as data analytics, software development and data security, in the company's curricula for all its apprenticeship and work-study programs. Didactic and methodological teaching approaches were also revised to accommodate the digital transformation of the programs’ training content and of the occupational subject matter.
“Occupational training is foundational for our company’s future. One clear focus of our training program is on the responsible use of digital technologies, which are bringing enormous change to the working world and to society. For years now, we’ve been continuously adapting our training programs to new requirements, to digital content and to agile teaching methods in order to keep pace with these changes. In this way, we can ensure that our trainees are well prepared for the future,” said Thomas Leubner, who heads the company’s Learning and Education department.
The success of the training system is also shown by the International Tech Apprenticeship@Siemens (ITA@S) program, which was established in 2012, back then under the name Europeans@Siemens. Young people are being sent to Berlin by the Siemens Regional Companies in their respective countries for dual educational training. In the past few years, however, an increasing number of participants have come from countries outside Europe. Consequently, the program now has a new name: ITA@S.
Since the start of the vocational training in Berlin in 1891 more than 165,000 people have undergone training with Siemens in Germany alone.
Siemens is also blazing new trails when it comes to recruiting trainees. In its “MINTfluencer” social-media campaign, short video clips star Siemens trainees as influencers. The campaign name is a word play on “MINT,” which is the German equivalent of science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM).