Siemens Innovation Day China 2017 Event Focuses on Digitalization

Siemens held its Innovation Day China 2017 event in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, September 13th and 14th. Around 400 of Siemens’ customers and partners in China joined with the company to explore the ways in which innovations are contributing to the nation’s transformation.

Key topics of the event program included digital enterprise, MindSphere (Siemens’ cloud-based open operating system for the IoT), digitalized electrical networks, smart cities, digital services, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.

The event featured dozens of multimedia demonstrations that provided participants with insights into Siemens’ latest technologies, products, solutions, and services for the digital enterprise and intelligent infrastructure. During several panel discussions, university professors, government officials, end users, and Siemens executives shared additional insights on relevant topics such as ecosystems for innovation, digitalization, value creation, “Made in China 2025,” and “Industrie 4.0.”

Shaping Digitalization Innovation
In his keynote presentation, “Shaping Digitalization Innovation at Siemens,” Dr. Roland Busch, CTO and Member of Managing Board, explained how digitalization is changing our world, and what Siemens is doing in this area today.

According to Dr. Busch, in addition to digital technologies, a combination of other new technologies are changing and impacting the world. At the same time, the value chain and business ecosystem are also changing. Siemens innovation is not just about digitalization; the company plans to keep investing in traditional mechanical and electrical technologies as well.

Dr. Busch explained that, since 2007, Siemens has invested about €15 billion in its digitalization and software business. In fiscal year 2016, the company’s digitalization and software business (including both industry software and digital services) earned €4.3 billion, which brings Siemens into the list of the top 10 global largest software suppliers.

Dr. Busch also discussed MindSphere, Siemens’ cloud-based, open operating system for IoT. On this platform-as-a-service, applications and digital services can be developed, operated and provided. Siemens has built an open partner ecosystem for MindSphere, including consulting/strategy partners, application developers, system integrators, technology providers, IaaS provider, connectivity developers.

In the presentation, Dr. Busch mentioned that Siemens China will lead the company’s global R&D in autonomous robotics control and build an open innovation ecosystem with government, SMEs, and universities. The company based this decision on two main reasons. The first is that China is now the biggest robotics market globally. Second, Siemens believes that China has the talent needed to drive this innovation, domestically and for the world. (On September 12th, the company announced an advanced robotics research initiative in cooperation with Tsinghua University.)

TechTalk
In a series of “TechTalk” presentations, representatives from Siemens Corporate Technology demonstrated what the company is doing in digitalization innovation. Some of the topics covered in this session follow.

Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Michael May, Head of Technology Field-Business Analytics & Monitoring, Siemens Corporate Technology, gave a presentation on artificial intelligence for industry.

Siemens has more than 20 years of experience in this area. By combining technologies like deep learning and neural networks with its industrial domain knowledge, Siemens has implemented successful AI applications. These include energy analytics solutions in the company’s own Amberg factory, root cause analysis and failure prediction for the CERN Large Hadron Collider, online learning neural networks in over 30 steel plants, and others.

Industrial IT Security
Dr. Rolf Reinema, Head of Technology Field-IT Security, Siemens Corporate Technology, gave a presentation on the importance of cybersecurity for successful digitalization.

According to Dr. Reinema, cybersecurity is a key enabler for digitalization, but we face big challenges in industrial cybersecurity due to today’s open connectivity and architecture, software reuse, and more capable and professional attackers. He discussed the importance of security by design; adaptive security architectures and cyber-defense strategies; how both security for the digital and the physical worlds and for IT and OT environments are converging; why prevention, detection, and reaction will remain priorities; and that we need a holistic approach for effective cybersecurity.

We learned that a local Siemens team has been supporting IT cybersecurity in China for more than ten years and that, in 2016, the company launched its dedicated China Cyber Defense Center in Suzhou.

From Sensing to Perception
Dr. Thomas Scheiter, Head of Technology Field-Sensing & Industrial Imaging, Siemens Corporate Technology, gave an interesting presentation on how humans perceive sensory data.

According to Dr. Scheiter, “perception” is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information to represent and understand the environment. In the past, sensors, data transmission, and computer power to support this were very expensive. But today, this has changed. Smart sensor networks enable condition monitoring for a broad range of applications and open up opportunities in service business (e.g. predictive maintenance). Meanwhile, Industrial IoT drives the convergence of sensing, data analytics, and digital twin, enabling us to move from “sensing” to “perception.” He introduced several application examples, including applications in smart motors, automated spare parts recognition, and thermal screening by mobile multi-model sensor nodes.

Top Innovations in Electrification, Automation, and Digitalization
Switching to a US perspective, Dr. Kurt Bettenhausen, Head of Technology Field-Automation and Control, Siemens Corporate Technology, introduced the company’s “Manufacturing USA” program. The main initiatives here include the company’s digital enterprise partnership with the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (DMDII) in Chicago and with the “America Makes” additive manufacturing initiative.

Siemens CT Suzhou
After the event, the company arranged a visit for representatives from analyst and media organizations to the Siemens Corporate Technology (CT) Center in Suzhou.

Opened in September 2016, Suzhou is the first R&D location of Siemens focusing on digital technologies in China. This corporate technology center is developing innovative solutions involving Big Data, the web of systems, intelligent mobility, cybersecurity solutions, and industrial robotics.

CT Suzhou has five laboratories: Connected City Solutions (CCS), Cyber Defense Center (CDC), Robotics and Autonomous System, Data Analytics, and Industrial Internet of Things. The CDC lab aims to protect customers' digital assets and infrastructure, providing industrial safety monitoring, safety assessment and consulting, emergency planning, and trusted security services. This Center received official National Grade Protection Level 3 certification from China's Ministry of Public Security. This and its previous ISO27001 certification from TÜV SÜD, make Siemens the first industrial multinational company to be compliant with both local and international security standards.

Conclusion
In line with “Made in China 2025” and “The Belt and Road” initiatives, China is on a mission to upgrade the nation’s industry and boost its global competence through digitalization-focused innovation. Through this event, Siemens demonstrated how the company can help its customers in China achieve successful digital transformation.

Siemens has developed a well-focused localization strategy, including R&D localization. By leveraging this strategy, Siemens appears to be well-positioned to develop, implement, and support products and solutions that meet the unique requirements of its many customers in China.

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Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Robotics, Cybersecurity, Innovation, MindSphere, Siemens, ARC Advisory Group.