Siemens 2007 Annual Report Download - page 45

Corporate Responsibility Award 45
The other four winning teams were also honored for
their outstanding projects:
Accelerating knowledge transfer in pediatries
Since many childhood diseases are relatively rare,
the knowledge and experience needed to diagnose
and treat them effectively is often available at only
a few locations. To address this problem, employees
at Siemens Medical Solutions and Siemens Corpo-
rate Technology – together with their partners in
the Health-e-Child project – are exploiting state-of-
the-art information technology to speed up knowl-
edge transfer in pediatric medicine. By linking lead-
ing healthcare facilities, research institutions and
companies, the Health-e-Child information platform
enables the latest knowledge in pediatric medicine
to be made rapidly available worldwide. The aim
is to create a global network encompassing health-
care providers even in remote areas. This project
leverages opportunities provided by the European
Union’s sixth Framework Program for Research and
Technological Development.
Enhancing study programs for Mexico’s engineers
In the past, graduates of engineering programs in
Mexico were often not well equipped to keep pace
with worldwide developments in their fi elds. Typi-
cally, engineering curricula had little practical rele-
vance and training programs were too long. No won-
der the fi eld wasn’t attracting many young people.
Now, Siemens VDO in Mexico – in cooperation with
the government, universities and local chambers of
commerce – has developed three highly focused and
streamlined study programs. This project will help
ensure a steady supply of well-qualifi ed Mexican en-
gineers – and Siemens in Mexico will no longer have
to spend a whole year training its new engineering
employees.
Integrating people with disabilities
A partnership between mdexx, an Automation and
Drives company, and Martinshof, a sheltered work-
shop in Bremen, Germany, has been fl ourishing for
over ten years now. The project began in 1998, when
mdexx employees proposed using rooms available
on company premises for the Martinshof project.
Ever since, Martinshof personnel and mdexx employ-
ees have been training and supervising a small
group of disabled people, who are taking over in-
creasingly complex tasks in the factory. The Martin-
shof workers travel to mdexx on their own and work
side-by-side with mdexx employees, tremendously
increasing their self-reliance and self-esteem. A
showpiece of successful workplace integration, the
project is enabling the disabled participants to
achieve greater professional and social recognition
while promoting understanding for the disabled
among mdexx employees.
Siemens Caring Hands and the United Way
The Caring Hands team at Siemens Medical Solutions
in the U.S. has formed a close partnership with the
United Way, one of North America’s leading chari ties.
In 2006, volunteers and coordinators raised a record
$705,993 for charitable purposes – an amount that
refl ects the strength of the partnership and of which
the participants can be justly proud. The work of a
constantly growing network of volunteers, the regu-
lar training of coordinators and continuous coverage
in the internal media at Medical Solutions USA made
this outstanding achievement possible.
All of these projects are valuable sources of ideas and
harbor enormous social and business potential. Co-
operating across borders, regions and disciplines,
our Corporate Responsibility teams are leveraging
Company solutions, know-how, networks and part-
nerships to honor their responsibilities to society. By
providing answers to some of the toughest questions
of our time, the participants are playing an impor-
tant role in Siemens’ ongoing efforts to benefi t our
world.
Further information on the Corporate Responsibility Award, the 2007
prizewinners and corporate citizenship at Siemens is available at:
www.siemens.com/craward
www.siemens.com/corporate_citizenship