Investment or withdrawal

CEOs for Berlin visit Siemens

Text: Philipp Zettl | Policy Officer

It is currently one of Berlin's largest urban development projects: Siemensstadt Square. By 2035, 35,000 people will be living, working, learning and researching here on 400 hectares of land, as well as testing and producing the technologies of tomorrow. Siemens CEO Cedrik Neike invited the CEOs for Berlin to the historic Mosaic Hall at the company's headquarters to present the project to them.

He not only reported on the most important figures of the project - 4.5 billion euros investment, of which 750 million euros are to come from Siemens, almost 60 employees are already working in the Siemens planning team, etc. - but also on how the project came about.

Due to the economic developments at Siemens, the company is being forced to radically reinvent itself. With regard to the historic Siemens location in Berlin, this would have meant either withdrawing or investing and radically transforming the location into a hybrid campus that would connect the digital with the real world. Thanks to a digital twin, Siemensstadt Square will be planned, built and operated multi-dimensionally. Thanks to intelligent technologies and renewable energies, the site will be CO₂-neutral and particularly energy-efficient in operation.

Why Berlin? On the one hand, origin and tradition play a role; Berlin was where Siemens was founded and many employees are still here. But it is also important that Berlin attracts talent from all over the world, talent that Siemens needs. "In addition, the business case simply makes sense!" said Neike, explaining his decision in favor of the location and therefore Berlin!  

Another topic of the evening: Germany as a business location: "I travel a lot around the world for my work and I am always surprised at the incredible expertise we have here in Germany." But Germany lives from its substance, the innovative drive and the will to develop new things has slackened. This is also noticeable in the field of AI: "We can now wait and see and continue to lose touch, or we can help shape the future. I am in favor of the latter," reported the Siemens CEO. The "Siemensians of this world" are still predominantly European. Europe should also understand this better and use it for intensive collaboration and cooperation. It is no longer possible to go it alone: data is about shaping ecosystems. Especially in the field of industrial AI, Europe and its industrial groups still have a chance against the top dogs China and the USA. Should this fail, Germany and Europe would be left behind. The CEOs for Berlin therefore have many tasks ahead of them, and these requirements do not just apply to Siemens!