Bosch to Invest Billions in Areas of Future Digital Growth

Bosch announced it will invest €10 billion in digitalization and connectivity by 2025. Two-thirds of this will go toward developing and expanding promising new technologies, focusing on sustainability, mobility, and Industry 4.0.

“For Bosch, digitalization presents major opportunities in all areas of business,“ said 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.

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

Bosch brings its years of experience in the simulation of materials that are especially important for industrial applications to collaboration. In return, the supplier of technology and services will gain access to IBM’s fleet of more than twenty 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: As quantum computer performance improves in the more distant future, it may be possible to conclude specific properties of new materials in a fraction of the time that is needed on conventional computers. The work on quantum algorithms for exploring use cases of interest will involve research by experts from both Bosch and IBM.

“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.

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 digitalization 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.