Siemens Healthineers to set up innovation hub in Bengaluru

German medical technology company Siemens Healthineers on Tuesday said it would invest Rs 1,300 crore over the next five years to set up an innovation hub in Bengaluru. It will hire 1,800 personnel for the facility over the next 10 years, a statement said.

Spread across 70,000 square metres of office space, the centre will house an existing R&D centre as well as a 5,000 square metre medical imaging factory, the statement said. The Bengaluru R&D centre, which accounts for 50% of all software engineers at Siemens Healthineers, develops software products and platforms for the company’s imaging, diagnostics and advanced therapy verticals.

The Bengaluru innovation hub -- its fourth such centre -- will include centres of competence in digital technologies, such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, user experience, cybersecurity and immersive technologies including augmented reality and virtual reality.

The firm, which claims to have invested Rs 2,500 crore in India so far, runs innovation hubs in the US, Germany and China too.

“The innovation hub in Bengaluru is an integral part of our global network of innovation that will further accelerate our ability to develop effective solutions quickly and with a strong focus on emerging markets, especially in Asia,” Peter Schardt, CTO of the company, said.

The Bengaluru innovation hub, he added, will assume increased responsibility for customer centric solutions to serve such markets better.

“Special focus is on solutions for the digitalisation of healthcare, which is the foundation for value-based and patient-centered medicine within the region and across the globe,” he said.

As of now, the Bengaluru factory manufactures Cios Fit C-arms and Somatom.go CT scanners, which are sold to markets in Southeast Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and South American regions. Siemens Healthineers will expand its product portfolio to address the challenge of affordability in these markets, the statement said.