What is the purpose of technology? As a matter of fact, technology itself is merely a tool and has no purpose. But, this tool is also a resource with endless possibilities; it can transform everything. In other words, we are the ones to determine what we do with technology. Therefore, it is up to us to use this tool in the best interest of our world and the people.

At Siemens, we have a clear answer to the question “what is the purpose of technology?”: to contribute to transforming the world into a better place. In order to achieve this, we focus on developing technology with purpose. Because, we can use technology to enable more happiness and freedom for ourselves, to better fight against climate change, and to live healthier lives in a better world. We can solve the world’s most pressing current problems only by using technology effectively and accurately, that is by focusing on developing technology to serve a purpose.

As Siemens, this is exactly what we do. We offer technologies to meet the most important needs of today and tomorrow. Accordingly, our activities are centered primarily around sustainability to promote “Technology with Purpose” which stands as one of our four strategic priorities.

Technology with purpose for sustainable development

Climate change, urbanization and the increasing pressure on resources continue to manifest the urgent need for sustainable development. To this end, we focus on the future of industry, infrastructure, and transportation in line with the goal of developing technologies with purpose in three areas for which sustainable development is of critical importance.

Through technology with purpose, we provide our customers with cutting-edge solutions in sustainable manufacturing and clean energy to help them improve their sustainability performance. We also take action to help meet the urgent needs of our time, as well as the those of the future. One of the recent examples of this is our collaboration with BioNTech to make COVID-19 vaccines accessible worldwide within the shortest possible amount of time. As Siemens, we provide the vaccine manufacturing facilities of BioNTech with the latest automation and digitalization technologies such as design, simulation, engineering software and process control technology to rapidly build and expand the vaccine manufacturing capacity for COVID-19. On the other hand, while we established Europe’s largest laboratory at Ankara City Hospital with our company Siemens Healthineers Turkey, our Building Technologies department operating under Smart Infrastructure built the health campus of the future in the same hospital. This smart hospital campus that is built within Ankara City Hospital and equipped with solutions developed by Siemens Healthineers and Siemens Smart Infrastructure has set a global example. These are just two of the numerous examples of “technology with purpose” we offer in line with our approach of transforming the everyday.

We Reinforce Our Focus on Sustainability through DEGREE

An Aboriginal proverb says: “Look after the land and the land will look after you; destroy the land and it will destroy you.” We know that our survival depends on nature. Wildfires, floods, droughts and many other worrisome disasters that take place in the world and in our country can be deemed as signals for us to act more responsibly. However, taking action only when faced with such disasters is not a working solution. A long-term commitment to environmentally friendly and good practices is required to prevent these disasters. We need to leave a healthy world to future generations; not a wreck.

Technology is the greatest driver for a sustainable life and future. We can solve the most pressing problems of today and tomorrow only by using technology effectively and accurately. We choose to focus on the environment, diversity, and digitalization towards the goal of a sustainable future. We develop solutions that significantly contribute to energy efficiency and support our world’s future.

Driven by our successful history in the area of sustainability, we are now setting ourselves more ambitious targets. We are clarifying our focus on sustainability with the DEGREE framework, which we have implemented as part of our new growth strategy. Within the DEGREE framework, we have set our sustainability priorities as decarbonization, ethics, governance, resource efficiency, equity and employability. The goals we set within the scope of these priorities support United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

As Siemens, we offer feasible scenarios and innovative solutions to enable the transition to a carbon-neutral economy by leveraging our technology portfolio. Using these technologies, our customers can achieve their goals by using less resources. As Siemens Turkey, we have achieved 20 percent energy savings within the last five years thanks to the steps we have taken towards our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2023. With the products and services we offer to our customers, we are enabling them to save TRY 360 million per year on average. We, as Siemens Turkey, are helping reduce carbon emissions by 39 percent through our energy efficiency projects. Using our technologies, our customers are able to achieve their goals with less resources. We are intensifying our efforts to decarbonize our value chain. For example, we recently organized a Digital Summit event for our 165^th anniversary. In line with our goal of achieving carbon-neutrality and DEGREE approach, we donated saplings on behalf of our guests and Siemens colleagues who participated in this online event. These trees will be planted in our Siemens 165^th Anniversary Memorial Forest.

Through the technologies with purpose we have been offering for 174 years across the world and for 165 years in Turkey, as well as the sustainability in our DNA, we will continue to transform the everyday, creating opportunities for a better world and helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals.

We, as Siemens have been operating in Turkey for more than 160 years, which is astonishingly a long time. We have always planned for a long-term presence in Turkey and worked accordingly. Also based our sustainability approach on this framework. Prior to the launch out of a project, we always contemplate on how to develop it in the long run; since rather than one-time support, initiating a project, growing it, taking it to different levels, improving its scope and value are important to us. Siemens Opera Contest that has become a traditional event is a good example to this approach; it started from scratch and within these 21 years it touched and continues to touch the lives of tens of opera singers who performed on world stages.

While launching and continuing the project, our premise has always been this: There are many talented young people and artists in Turkey. Trying to create opportunities for these young people on various platforms has been our main source of motivation and enthusiasm.

I believe that the phenomenon of “brand” is another important aspect. Building a brand and sustaining its reputation requires great time and effort. When these young opera singers successfully represent Turkey abroad, they are actually performing on behalf of Turkey and add great value to the brand of Turkey.

In my now more than 43 years with Siemens, I worked in 7 different countries. Every country has its dynamics and every country has unique musical, economic, and political rhythms. But what has always fascinated me the most is how different instruments may bring people together. These instruments can sometimes be sports, sometimes cuisines or art. They immediately interfere and open the doors of communication, especially when experts or authorities feel they are in a deadlock.

Lucky us, we have been doing this for 21 years. This reminds me of the motto “Ars longa, vita brevis”. Cited from Hippocrates and translated into Latin, this phrase means “art is long, life is short”. Actually, Hippocrates said these words in the context of medicine, which he considered to be an art, and added: “opportunity fleeting, experiment dangerous, judgement difficult”.

In other words, expertise on a certain topic, craft or art requires a lot of time, effort and endeavor. Compared to this trouble, our life is quite short. Yet, there is another side to the medallion: An art earned by giving your lifetime to it makes you immortal in the end. Isn’t this already the dream of an artist?

When I think about Siemens Opera Contest, I do not see a standardized event that has never changed in 21 years. On the contrary, I see a snowball that grows layer by layer, developed with experience, and gains value with the excitement and enthusiasm of young people. And I thank everyone involved for their contribution.

Let Tchaikovsky say the final words: “Music is indeed the most beautiful of all Heaven’s gifts to humanity wandering in the darkness. Only music can calm, enlighten, and still our souls. Music is a true friend, refuge, and comforter, makes life worth living. Perhaps there will be no music in heaven. Well then, let us give our mortal life to it as long as it lasts.”

As Siemens, we celebrated our 160th anniversary in Turkey last year. Through these 160 years, we have added value to our country in terms of products, technology, and human resources. I am both proud and pleased of saying that these values continue to exist.

In parallel with these values, there is a topic that we care very much for, in fact, not only for people, but for all living things: the Earth. Every work we do and every project we accomplish aims to make the world a better and a more livable place for new generations and all living things. If the world does not exist, neither shall we. For this reason, we decided to create a memorial forest that would symbolize the contributions we have made to the planet so far and that would be the greatest investment in the future. On Friday, April 7th, we gathered in İzmir / Seferihisar for this purpose.

I wholeheartedly believe that Siemens Turkey 160th Anniversary Memorial Forest that we planted in cooperation with the Aegean Forest Foundation is a very important project. I think this forest will also provide a valuable contribution to our goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2023, i.e. the 100th anniversary of our Republic, as we have stated in our Business to Society Report in 2016.

I would like to once again thank the Aegean Forest Foundation and all authorities and Siemens employees for supporting the creation of the 160th Anniversary Memorial Forest. 5,000 saplings that we planted in Seferihisar, a symbol of environmentalism, naturalness, peace, and tranquility, will light the way to the future as well.

We have been proudly contributing to the development of our country with our history of 160 years and in fall 2016 we published our Business to Society report that summarizes such contributions.

And now there is a new opportunity before us to reward the sustainability efforts of Turkey. As Siemens Turkey, by combining our sustainability strategy with our social responsibility initiatives, we made an application to the independent European Business Awards to become a “National Champion”. We completed the first phase of the process with success. Now if you would like to support Siemens Turkey at the public voting held individually in 34 countries, you may cast your vote until 1 March 2017, Wednesday.

As Siemens, we are celebrating our 160^th year in Turkey. Since 1856, we have not only been performing economic activities on these lands, but also contributing to the society in many different aspects.

The constantly-changing international business environment leads us towards a new mindset on growth and success. Companies now should have a vision of growth beyond traditional parameters such as increasing production and acquiring short-term financial revenue. They also need to consider the impact they create on the society and the environment. Our responsibility towards the society we live in is greater than ever.

Parameters that reveal the success of a company change constantly. The success of a business is no longer assessed by looking at its turnover or number of factories. To talk about real success, we need to look at the long-term contribution of a business to the country it operates in. Investors want to see the long-term contribution to make investments as well. Employees also want to see the real social contribution of their corporations to the world, the future, and children in a measurable way and to feel proud about it.

In accordance with this trend, I would like to share with you a project that we, as the Siemens Turkey family, are most excited about. In our 160^th year in Turkey, we decided to measure Siemens’ contribution to Turkey’s sustainable development in terms of quality and quantity. Based upon our experience and know-how, we demonstrated the contributions that our operations in Turkey have made to the sustainable development goals and social life of Turkey.

We released the report “Siemens Turkey – Business to Society” in September 2016. I am planning to share some details of the report soon, but for the moment you may reach the PDF version of the report at Download the Business to Society Report! Our report clearly displays how much contribution a company can make to social development. We hope it will act as an example for other companies.

The students of Darüşşafaka Robotics Club, which we support as Siemens, successfully represented our country in the Robotics Competition in the United States last week and made us proud by returning with an award. Coached and supported by our colleague engineers at Siemens throughout the process, the students of Darüşşafaka Robotics Club won the “Regional Engineering Inspiration Award” at the FIRC Robotics Competition (FRC). I congratulate all Darüşşafaka students and our colleagues who supported them.

Our relations with Darüşşafaka is quite deep-rooted, dating back to 109 years ago. In 1906, postal clerk RANA Efendi, a graduate of Mekteb-i Sultani (today’s Galatasaray High School), and SABRİ Efendi, a graduate of the posts and telegraph branch of Darüşşafaka as a first-ranking student, were sent to Siemens Halske headquarters in Berlin for further training. The travel allowance and salaries of these two young men were covered by the Ottoman Ministry of Telegraphy. After returning to Turkey, they assumed various roles to provide significant contributions to the modernization of the country, including the role of members of the parliament. Sabri Efendi was also one of the close friends of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Our relations with Darüşşafaka, which started with Europe then and continued until today, are crowned with the achievements in the USA today and we are very happy to witness this.

We hope to achieve many new achievements together as we are preparing to celebrate our 160^th year in Turkey in 2016.

In April, Darüşşafaka Robotics Club’s students competed in the First Robotic Competition (FRC) in the USA and won the 3 EKOCYCLE Cube® D Printer Award. The students printed 8 different parts of the ‘Aerial Assist’ (Pilates ball thrower) robot by using the 3D Printer which is made by the students themselves. As Siemens, we supported them in both developing the robot together with our volunteering engineers and participating in the competition in the USA.

Since our country is in need of a significant breakthrough in R&D with its young and promising population, it is very meaningful for a students’ robotics club of an institution like Darüşşafaka to receive such an award. They made us very proud. Thus, I would like to congratulate all club students and mentor teachers as well as all my colleagues who voluntarily supported them. I wish them success in this year’s grand prize competition as well.

We humans developed a communication methodology by naming specific days to remind us of our failures and negligence. So what comes in to my mind when I think about the world environment day?

First of all regrets, then responsibility! Regrets, because we neglect the space of the next generation by giving topics as environment, safety and health a minor importance.

Regrets, that we talk and celebrate these events but we do not make the message a core aspect of how we live, work and develop our future.

Regrets that we are irresponsible on how we react on harmful actions and do this only then, when it is just too late and human lives are lost.

We have a responsibility that we owe to the next generations. For this reason, when we celebrate World Environment Day we should first put ‘responsibility’ before everything else. We should not end up to say: “If we only knew!”

Happy World Environment Day.

Darüşşafaka High Advisory Board gathered on September 21^st to discuss the future opportunities for Darüşşafaka Society.

In addition to my personal commitment to this educational institution, Siemens Turkey also proudly supports Darüşşafaka, which has offered a bright future to thousands of students since its establishment, with the strength and trust built in 150 years.

I sincerely hope we will have many other good examples in education like Darüşşafaka.

As Siemens A.Ş., we devised a strategy 3 years ago to make a transition to Mobile Working concept in the long term and implemented the first example in our regional office in Ankara. Our aim was to bring an alternative working culture to our company. To implement this new working culture, Siemens A.Ş. executives analyze their responsibility areas and take the responsibility in deciding when to do certain works. As of 24^th May 2013, our Information Technologies (CIO) department saved 50% of office space by implementing “Mobile Working’ concept in our Kartal campus.

Including the CIO head, most of the Siemens A.Ş. employees in the department don’t have a personal desk. When employees come to the office, they can sit at whichever desk is available. In addition to saving office spaces, the new workspaces are furnished with clearer, more spacious and colorful furniture and are designed to appeal to new generation. Thanks to this new practice, office costs are greatly reduced by considering the time lost during commuting, which is an outcome of city life. By maintaining this culture, we will continue our effort to become one of the most efficient companies in Turkey.