Siemens pours €1bn into German industrial metaverse innovation

In a decisive move to bolster Germany’s innovation capacity, Siemens has announced plans to invest €1 billion in the country. This forms part of the company’s €2 billion global investment strategy.

At an event attended by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Siemens revealed the establishment of its new Technology Campus in Erlangen, Germany. The company is earmarking €500 million to expand its development and manufacturing capacities at this location, reinforcing its role as a global research and development hub and the epicenter of Siemens’ industrial metaverse activities.

The new Technology Campus will strengthen Siemens’ foothold in the Nuremberg metropolitan region, with the €1 billion investment in Germany largely targeting new manufacturing capacities, innovation labs, education centers, and further expansion of Siemens locations. Presently, the Erlangen site hosts around 3,500 employees and a highly automated world-class factory, producing key products in industrial automation and digitalization.

Siemens boosts German innovation with €1bn investment, establishing blueprint for industrial metaverse. Photo courtesy of Siemens.

Siemens aims to create a blueprint for the industrial metaverse, a real-time, photorealistic, physics-based virtual representation of the real world. Leveraging artificial intelligence and pertinent, physical data, Siemens is ushering in a new generation of high-tech manufacturing that promises greater sustainability and flexibility in response to market changes.

“This investment is a strong signal for Germany as a location for innovation and production,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Siemens CEO, Roland Busch, added, “We’re laying the foundation for the industrial metaverse in the Nuremberg metropolitan region… we’re developing new digital technologies in the metaverse and revolutionizing how we’ll run our production in the future – much more efficiently, flexibly and sustainably.”

The upcoming campus will host sustainable, future-oriented high-tech manufacturing, associated R&D activities, and a partner ecosystem from the business and scientific communities. Prior to actual construction, all new buildings for R&D, production, and logistics will be digitally planned and simulated, allowing an optimized real-world implementation using the industrial metaverse.

Environmental sustainability lies at the heart of the campus expansion, with rigorous plans to create a net-zero location meeting the highest sustainability criteria. These include innovative energy infrastructure, green energy supply, and extensive use of Siemens’ sustainable digital building technology solutions.

With its latest investment, Siemens continues to endorse Germany as an essential location for production, research, development, and employment, as well as a key contributor to the Nuremberg metropolitan region’s development. This is part of a global investment strategy, with the company recently announcing a €160 million project to build new headquarters in Spain.