Siemens has increased its U.S. R&D investment by $175 million year-over-year to $1.3 billion in fiscal 2017 – a 16 percent increase – with a strong focus on digital innovation, says the company.

In Chicago, Siemens says it is investing $13 million annually in a digital R&D hub focused on cloud and Internet of Things applications to support the building management and automation market. Also on a global level, Siemens will again increase its global R&D expenditures in fiscal 2018 and is investing an additional sum of about $600 million. As a result, R&D spending will increase from nearly $6.3 billion in fiscal 2017 to $6.9 billion in fiscal 2018.

According to Siemens, the company is expanding its investments in U.S.-based digital capabilities to co-create solutions with customers.  These new solutions are being developed on MindSphere, Siemens’ open, cloud-based operating system for the Internet of Things (IoT).

[Image courtesy: Siemens]