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.

Written in 3 different languages 2,200 years ago and having become even more important when used as a code breaker to decipher the hieroglyph, the Rosetta Stone is once again coming to the fore with the Rosetta Space Mission, which enables landing on a comet for the first time ever.

Rosetta Spacecraft is expected to land on the “67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Comet” at 18:00 local time in Turkey. The module Philae, which is connected to the spacecraft, will transmit extraordinary information about what used to be considered as a “doomsayer” for centuries – a comet! Having dreamed of “flying on a cannonball” in 1700s with Baron von Münchhausen and travelling to the Moon in late 1800s with Jules Verne, mankind today, in the age of technology and data, moves rapidly on the road to expanding its knowledge on the galaxy. Such information, which I believe will astonish us all, is certainly very valuable in terms of understanding the galaxy and our source of energy – the sun.

In addition to landing on a comet, Rosetta is also a very striking example of how visionary and long-term thinking can lead to concrete results. The question is, when will our country take part in this visionary approach?

Innovation brings many key aspects to a country, it contributes to the long-term growth, provides employment and ensures that the country becomes or remains competitive. I believe profoundly, that as long as we have responsible innovation, the world will continue to advance. However the aspect of”The New” brings also culturally a certain skepticism with it. As an example the word”NEW” in English derives from the Latin word” Novitas” which also means”Strange”. It is maybe for this reason not surprising, that many societies feel more comfortable to develop an idea and make it better (evolutionary) vs. nurturing and embracing new innovation (revolutionary).

But what are the key elements or the grammar of evolution to ensure that innovation evolves? Here are 3 hints which are based on a discussion from Dr von Pierer and Dr. von Oetinger in the book ”Das Neue”.

The key elements to nurture innovation are:

1. A free spirit which, when exposed to global perspectives, is creative in producing original and diverse ideas .
2. We need a ” Wood – Barn” which is similar to what jazz musicians used to experiment and express themselves freely without judgment (a virtual Burn).
3. We need to be fully convinced and supportive of the power of creativity.