In the current fiscal year 2016, Siemens will invest around €4.8 billion in research and development (R&D) - some €300 million more than last fiscal year. R&D investment has thus increased about 20 percent since fiscal 2014.

A major part of the additional funds is earmarked for automation, digitalization and decentralized energy systems. In fiscal 2015, research intensity ‒ defined as the ratio of R&D expenditures to revenue ‒ was 5.9 percent, an increase of 0.3 percentage points over the prior year. The company is also launching a bundle of measures to further increase its power of innovation.

"Our company's success and its long-term future lie in our power of innovation. The motivation and creativity of our highly expert employees have a key role to play in this connection," said Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG. "Our company needs good ideas ‒ and we're creating the conditions that will enable clever minds both inside and outside our company to implement their ideas quickly and effectively."

To achieve this aim, Siemens is establishing a unit that will provide space for experimentation and growth in a startup environment. Under the working title "Innovations AG," the unit will also serve as a consultant, a promoter and a kind of risk capital provider for business and project ideas. Working independently of Siemens' core businesses - that is, like a founder's company ‒ the unit will supplement and consolidate Siemens' existing startup activities.

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