Siemens Healthineers and the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) have signed an MoU to collaborate and exchange personnel and promote innovation and cooperation in healthcare and clinical research.
“We intend to become a biomedical equipment partner for the upcoming hospitals and medical schools associated with IISc,” said Elisabeth Staudinger, Member of the Managing Board, Siemens Healthineers. “We broadly collaborate in three areas: academic, clinical, and also with businesses/startups,” she added.
Add people
With the innovation centre, the company is also looking to add more people to the country. “We employ around 7,000 people in the country and expect to add another 1,800 people in a few years,” said Staudinger, who is in the city to participate in the ground breaking ceremony of its previously announced innovation center in Bengaluru.
The company will invest ₹1,300 crore in establishing a facility and will bring together all the different disciplines — the software development team, the Innovation Centre, manufacturing, and its India headquarters.
Talking about the key growth drivers in the region, she said, they still see tremendous growth opportunities in their existing portfolio and expect continuous demand.
Challenges faced
Apart from the opportunities, she stressed the challenges facing the Indian market in offering cost-effective products, which she said they are trying to address through our products, such as the CT scanner, which is manufactured in Bengaluru.
“Then there’s the country’s strong business environment, which can be difficult to navigate when running a business. India offers a good training ground when it comes to running a business in challenging conditions with demanding and business-savvy customers,” she noted.
However, she said that as Siemens Healthineers they want to pioneer breakthroughs in healthcare for everyone, everywhere. “This also means we cannot chicken out. So, we have to look for ways to make it work. And I think we’ve come a long way in the past years, but there is of course always what you can do,” said Staudinger.