The Philippine subsidiary of German industrial giant Siemens AG will ramp up its industry 4.0 and internet of things (IoT) solutions being offered to local business to push for technology innovations and advance the development of smart cities.

As Siemens celebrated its 30 years of operations in the Philippines, the company indicated that it will reinforce pathway for technology innovations that will catapult the digitalization of key segments of the economy – including those on manufacturing, infrastructure and transportation.

To date, the German firm has an agreement with the government to fortify the capabilities of the manufacturing sector to employ industry 4.0 solutions throughout their value chain.

The German firm said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Trade and Industry to prepare manufacturing companies for Industry 4.0.

Through IoT, or the system of mechanical devices and digital machines, companies and businesses as well as organizations can be aided on the digitalization of certain facets of their operations. With that, Siemens said, companies can gain higher efficiencies in their operating performance, reduce operating costs while driving up revenues and prospective earnings.

On the sphere of infrastructure project developments, Siemens emphasized it will continue to be a “strong supplier to various power utilities and project developments – especially in ‘smart city’ solutions and IoT.”

As noted by Jose Marie Enrico Buergo, president and chief executive officer of Siemens, after three decades of business’ presence in the Philippines, the company still “looks ahead at what is in store for the business.”

Buergo highlighted that Siemens will focus “on key priorities to implement its growth strategy. We want to lay the foundation and start a new chapter by enhancing our customer impact, empowering our employees, promoting our purpose-driven technologies, and adopting a growth mindset.”

Siemens first set up its business operations in the country in 1992 as a subsidiary of Munich-headquartered Siemens AG – and the initial ventures it had undertaken had been on industrial automation and provision of technology and equipment to infrastructure developments.

Among the notable projects supported by Siemens are the country’s first gas-fired power facilities – primarily the 1,000-megawatt Santa Rita and 500MW San Lorenzo electric generating assets of First Gen of the Lopez group – in which Siemens served as equipment supplier and also took charge of the operation and maintenance (O&M) of the gas-fed power assets.

A decade prior to 1992, Siemens stated that its operations in the country had been centered in the healthcare sector, such as medical facilities distribution; and it likewise ventured into the telecommunications industry via partnership with Filipino firm ETSI Technologies Inc.