Infrastructures  •  Solutions for Society

Trends: Lifelines for Cities and Societies
Infrastructures are the lifelines that tie cities and societies together. They bring us water, power, communications and transportation. In short, they are the lifeblood of any successful economy. And when it comes to providing innovative infrastructural solutions, Siemens is leading the way. Its solutions enhance efficiency, convenience, and the quality of our lives—in the most remote regions as well as in megacities
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Facts and Forecasts: Magnetic Megacities
According to a UN-Habitat study, 2007 will mark an unprecedented moment in history: Half of the world’s population will be living in cities. The number of cities with populations over one million will increase from 300 to about 560 by 2015, when 350 million people will live in cities with more than ten million inhabitants. These changes will bring greater urbanization and economic growth, leading in turn to much stronger demand for modern infrastructures in areas including energy, water supply and transport
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Power Plants: More Power, Lower Emissions
Population growth and economic development continue to drive up energy consumption, particularly in urban centers. To meet the world’s demand for electricity in an environmentally compatible way, it will be necessary to exploit fossil fuels more efficiently and make greater use of renewable energy sources. Four Siemens projects illustrate how this can be accomplished
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Desalination: Energy for Electricity and Water
Persian Gulf countries want to expand their energy and water infrastructures. A power and desalination complex built by Siemens in Abu Dhabi is the most powerful facility of its kind worldwide
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Undersea Cables: Green Power for Victoria
The world’s longest undersea cable is bringing energy generated from renewable sources on the island of Tasmania to the Australian continent. If necessary, the link, which was built by Siemens, will work in the opposite direction as well
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Portrait: Singapore—Paradigm for a High-Tech Future
By teaming up with global companies and investing in education and state-of-the-art infrastructures, Singapore has become one of the world’s most dynamic cities. Other countries hope to learn from its experiences
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"What We Can Do in Five Years Might Take 50 Elsewhere"
Interview with Tony Tan, former Deputy Prime Minister, on the effort of Singapore
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Bangkok: Ticket to the Future
Bangkok is notorious for its smog and traffic congestion. But things are getting better. Instead of building wider roads, planners in the Thai capital have teamed up with Siemens to develop environmentally friendly rapid transit solutions
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High-Speed Rail: Spain’s Trains to the Plains
There are 22 different rail signaling and security systems in the European Union member countries. But in the future, a uniform standard known as ETCS will make rail travel across national boundaries easier. The effectiveness of this technology is already being demonstrated by the new Velaro E in Spain—the fastest train on wheels
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Security: Protecting Key Assets
Key infrastructure elements must be secured against outages, damage and sabotage. Siemens offers comprehensive solutions
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Stadiums: Technology for Champions
Siemens delivers complete infrastructure solutions for major sports events all over the world. And it will also be on hand for the 2006 soccer World Cup. In fact, experts from Siemens have been preparing for years for this major sporting event. All 12 of the German World Cup stadiums are now equipped with the latest Siemens technology—from banks of floodlights and security systems to smart traffic management systems for surrounding areas
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51pegasi: Managing Data for Sports
Sports technology is booming. Siemens Venture Capital (SVC) is investing in Dutch company 51pegasi, which has designed a solution for simple and intelligent data management during sporting events
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Hotels: Las Vegas’s City within a City
A city within the city is taking shape in Las Vegas — with pioneering technologies from Siemens that will increase comfort, improve security and limit environmental impact
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A Mecca for Top Hotel Technologies
In the tourism global marketplace few locations can boast the sort of boom currently happening in Dubai, which is reported to be the fastest-growing city on earth. A staggering $100 billion worth of development projects are either under way or planned for the near future in Dubai, including 40 new five-star hotels
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Disaster Relief: First Aid for the Infrastructure
2005 was marked by numerous natural disasters—the tsunami in Asia, hurricanes in the U.S. and the earthquake in Pakistan being just three examples of the destructive force of nature. According to the International Red Cross, 145 million people were affected by these catastrophes, which left millions homeless and devastated entire infrastructures. To mitigate the effects of such tragic occurrences, Siemens provides aid through its international Caring Hands program
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Developing Regions: Plugging into a New Life
Electricity, clean drinking water and telecommunications are crucial requirements of our civilization and the basis of prosperity. How can these essentials be brought to regions that don’t even have roads? Siemens projects in Africa and Asia offer solutions
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In Brief
Developments, contacts, links, literature
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