Global component and technology major remains on the offensive in its digital transformation. By 2025, the supplier of technology and services will have invested 10 billion euros (Rs 81,990 crore) in digitalisation and connectivity. Two-thirds of this will go toward developing and expanding promising new technologies, with a focus on sustainability, mobility, and Industry 4.0.

“For Bosch, digitalisation presents major opportunities in all areas of business,” said Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the Bosch board of management, at this year’s Bosch Connected World (BCW) AIoT industry conference in Berlin. “In addition to promising new technologies, we will be investing in vocational training and professional development for our associates – since they are the key to technology that is ‘Invented for life’ both today and tomorrow,” Hartung said.

Bosch partners IBM on quantum computing
For the technology of the more distant future, Hartung also announced that Bosch is partnering with IBM, the U.S.-based technology company, in the field of quantum computing. Bosch’s goal is to use quantum computing simulation of materials to find surrogates for the precious metals and rare earths in carbon-neutral powertrains – in the electric motor and the fuel cell – in the next 10 years

Bosch has many years of experience in the simulation of materials that are especially important for industrial applications to the collaboration. In return, the supplier of technology and services will gain access to IBM’s fleet of more than 20 advanced quantum computers available over the IBM cloud. With the help of future generations of quantum computers, Bosch aims to determine the properties of new materials in ways that would be impractical on conventional computers in terms of time or complexity.

“We share our experience in simulating materials for very specific application areas with IBM and in return we gain deeper insights into the power and applicability of quantum computing including hardware. Together, we are taking quantum simulation to the next level and are gaining a competitive edge internationally,” Hartung said.

In addition to new materials for fuel cells, Bosch is also interested in new magnets for electric motors that are lighter, more compact, more efficient, and more readily available. Such new materials promise to be more environmentally friendly than rare earths.

Bosch start-up Decarbonize Industries as an enabler 
The partnership with IBM underscores the importance that alliances have for Bosch’s digital transformation: they are a way to pool the forces required for the rapid and successful development of promising areas.

To leverage the opportunities of digitalisation and play an active role in shaping the connected world, Bosch is also systematically recruiting associates with in-depth IT and software expertise. Currently, the company has around 40,000 software experts working in many areas of future importance.

The associates at the new Bosch start-up Decarbonize Industries, for example, are developing a software solution that helps industrial enterprises achieve carbon neutrality. The solution will be a platform, jointly developed by Bosch and the energy supplier EWE AG, which will draw on current data from the energy market, legislation, and other sources to show companies the optimum route to greater sustainability. If parameters such as government subsidies or energy prices change, the proposed measures are automatically adjusted. As a result, a roadmap for a more sustainable future is just a mouse-click away.