Dear customers of the TÜV NORD GROUP,
Dear colleagues and partners,
Exactly 150 years after our company was founded, we at TÜV NORD are witnessing, accompanying and co-creating the fundamental change in all areas of life and economic sectors that is being wrought by the digital transformation and the networking of the whole world. Over a period of fifteen decades, we have tested equipment, vehicles and products for mechanical and electrical safety. With digitalisation and the networking of things, IT security has become the third great field of knowledge and inspection to be fundamental to our work. Industrial robots, self-driving cars, hospitals, banks and the electricity grid need to function securely at all times and in all places and, at the same time, to be protected from cyber-criminals and hackers. We have developed customerfocused solutions for this new, extended responsibility to protect the products and processes of the Internet of Things:
- Worldwide IT certifications of Internet-enabled devices up to the highest levels of security and encryption for critical infrastructure and the large-scale data centres of industrial enterprises, utilities, banks, official bodies and ministries
- The inspection of the digital security mechanisms of digital identification systems, credit cards and health insurance cards
- A TrustCentre concept to protect digital user and driving data in vehicles that are at least partially autonomous
Our Group is also in the throes of transforming its own internal structures and processes. Using the methodology of the Digital Academy that we have developed in house, employees are undergoing a qualification programme aimed at the digital transformation and agile forms of development and cooperation. The Digital Academy has been so successful in the company that we are going to be offering this concept to customers as a standalone service as of 2019. Our magazine “Curiosity creates knowledge” offers a fascinating insight into the Digital Academy along with reports on our “Digital Minds” projects.
On the basis of our new mission statement, we also further refined our understanding of corporate responsibility (CR) in 2018 and are taking responsibility for the environment and society. To name just one example, we are already assessing the environmental impacts of our services and products from the development stage onwards. A CR roadmap brings together all our activities for the first time.
The TÜV NORD GROUP succeeded once more in boosting sales, earnings and other relevant financial ratios in 2018. The share of services offered abroad also increased once again.
In the name of the Supervisory Board, the Group Executive Committee and employee representatives, I offer my heartfelt thanks for your part in our successful collaboration and, especially, for the trust you have placed in the TÜV NORD GROUP. My special thanks go out to all our employees and partners world-wide who have been working with great dedication for our company and our customers. Our goal and our promise will remain what they have always been: to use our knowledge to contribute to the success of our customers.
Kind regards,
Dr. Dirk Stenkamp
Chairman of the Board of Management
