Siemens expands Saudi footprint with new R&D center

Siemens inaugurated the first MindSphere Application Center and MindSphere Lounge at the Siemens Head Office in Riyadh. This is the latest milestone in the company’s 90-year heritage in the Kingdom.

The MindSphere Application Center, together with the MindSphere Lounge and MindSphere Lab, offer a collaborative space, staffed by skilled people, who facilitate the co-creation of customized digital solutions with partners in the public and private sectors using MindSphere, Siemens’ cloud-based, open industrial IoT platform.

The MindSphere Application Center in Riyadh is part of a global network of 20 centers with 900 software developers, data specialists and engineers who work together with customers and partners to develop tailor-made digital solutions, thereby addressing their most pressing challenges and enabling improved operational efficiency, reduced costs and optimized systems across entire value chains.

The center represents another step toward more focused and customized product and service delivery, rather than a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy.

Stefan Werner, acting CEO of Siemens Saudi Arabia, said: “Vision 2030 is creating fantastic opportunities for our young people, who make up more than half of the Saudi Arabian population. With the MindSphere Application Center, we are providing a platform for young people to come and learn, develop and co-create with us. We have started with Effat University and look forward to achieving even more.”

Dr. Haifa Reda Jamal Al-Lail, president of Effat University, said: “We are here to officially open this center, which was designed and developed based on the winning design created by our students. I am proud of our valuable and productive partnership with Siemens, and proud of our students and their contributions to the development of Saudi Arabia, as represented by this magnificent new center.”

Abdallah Obeikan, CEO of the Obeikan Investment Group, said: “I believe Siemens will lead the digital transformation in the industrial sector globally. The capability and history of Siemens is creating a new dimension of partnership with us, moving from a normal supplier-customer relationship to a real partnership to co-create, co-develop and go to the market together.”

Prof. Dr. Rainer Speh, senior vice president, technology and innovation at Siemens Saudi Arabia, said: “We are the only company in the market that brings the virtual world together with the real world in a holistic way. The new MindSphere Application Center Lounge will enable us to work together with our customers to optimize entire production processes by seamlessly integrating data and driving continuous innovation from virtual product design to simulation, manufacturing and operations optimization.”