Our History of Innovation
On average, Siemens generates an astonishing 38 inventions and 23 patent applications around the world every workday and our investments in R & D are the prerequisite for successful innovation and sustainable business success. Our innovations lead to new applications and help our customers introduce products that are more efficient to the market, opening up more business areas and reducing costs.
However, the foundation of this innovative culture was laid in the past. Siemens was founded in Berlin by Werner von Siemens in 1847. An extraordinary inventor, engineer and entrepreneur, Werner von Siemens helped spin industrial revolution. From the world's first pointer telegraph and electric dynamo to the development of the first cardio pace maker, few companies have done as much as Siemens to shape our world.
Local Innovation
In Australia, Siemens' arrived in 1872 to build a telegraph line from Darwin to Adelaide. This telegraph connected Australia to the Siemens-built London to Calcutta telegraph line via Java, thus providing Australia with its first global communication link to the rest of the world. In 1876 Siemens arrived in New Zealand to construct a timeball to calibrate the chronometers of mariners in Port Lyttleton, Christchurch. The timeball operated until 1934 and was restored in 1999 with the help of Siemens.
The global challenges facing society, our customers and shareholders today require innovative R&D.
We are committed to innovative R&D. We aspire to 'shape the future' by developing technologies with a high-growth potential, recognising technological breakthroughs, identifying customer needs, and creating new business opportunities, products and solutions. We accurately identify promising prospective trends and needs well in advance, enabling us to lead the way and indeed shape the future.
All Siemens technology based solutions are reviewed for their possible safety hazards to our customers and end users prior to introduction to the market. New solutions are developed in accordance with Siemens environmental policies and are designed for long service life, ease of disassembly and recyclability.
Siemens in Australia and New Zealand has been recognised under the Australian Federal government’s Partnership for Development program for investing A$140 million in R&D and for exporting A$235 million of goods and services since 1994.
Recent Innovations 
- Implemented a security and fire safety solution in Melbourne's Federation Square, restricting entry to non-public areas and enabling continual video monitoring directly to the control room.
- Constructed a molecular imaging biomarker production facility for Australian hospitals, to increase their capacity to diagnose and treat patients with life-threatening diseases.
- Designed and built the OneTrough Point Operating System for rail transport, integrating all track change points equipment in one hollow sleeper.