As proud as we can rightly be of the 150 years of company history that we are now reviewing, we still have to ask what lies in wait for us in the next 150 years. We put this question to our employees. And you will find some of the answers here.
“ Renewable energies are the pathway to a clean and sustainable world. We believe in a future created by technology, the like of which we would once never have dreamed of. We believe that it may one day even be possible to share electricity from a global renewable energy grid.”
TING TING (ANGELLA) XU, TÜV NORD GREATER CHINA,
SHANGHAI: 31°14′ N | 121°28′ E
“ Technological developments are moving ever faster, and people are turning their attention to questions like robotics and artificial intelligence. However, progress isn’t generated by new technologies but by their meaningful application. People are always going to be at the heart of everything that happens, because it’s only people who can take sensible and responsible decisions. So it follows that the knowledge and practical activity of (engineers and IT) experts is becoming increasingly important. They’re the ones who can create valid and robust solutions from the flood of data and possibilities.”
ROMAN CECIL KRÄHLING, DMT, ESSEN: 51°27′ N | 7°3′ E
“ Artificial intelligence and robotics are going to pervade every business field and every aspect of private life, giving people more freedom and helping them make good use of the extra time they gain. The TÜV NORD GROUP will ensure that a reasonable balance between natural and artificial intelligence is maintained.”
FRANK BEUTING, TÜVIT, ESSEN: 51°28′ N | 7°2′ E
“ Groups of satellites are widely seen as the future of the communication systems that will network the entire world. People all over the world will have continuous access to the sum total of human information — this will be made possible by the combination of high-performance microwaves with optical message transmission and the digitalisation of our work processes. We’re already looking ahead to the networked world of tomorrow.”
AINTZANE LUJAMBIO GENUA, ALTER TECHNOLOGY GROUP,
SEVILLA: 37°24′ N | 6°0′ W
“ In 150 years, we humans will be virtually immortal. We’ll get to this point with the aid of machines which will be able to fully map and store our consciousness. It’ll then be possible to transfer consciousness from one body to another. Never again will a single thought be lost, and the future of human knowledge will be assured.”
FRIEDERIKE WIEGERS, TÜV NORD SYSTEMS,
HAMBURG: 53°34′ N | 9°56′ E
“ Our future communication will be shaped by “conversational commerce”. Messenger apps will evolve into a type of meta-app that will also combine thousands of other features. The future will see the widespread use of chatbots which will be able to communicate directly with people on the common basis of language. The progressive automation and networking of the Internet of Things in particular is showing us how important language assistants are going to be in the future.”
CAROLIN HEINRICH, TÜV NORD MOBILITÄT,
HANOVER: 52°20′ N | 9°46′ E
“ The globalisation of the food industry will accelerate in the coming decades. Growing concerns about contamination by pathogens have led to the development of safety tests for food. After ten years, our first food laboratory in Indonesia is returning some exceptional results and is now one of Indonesia’s market leaders. I’m proud to be part of this success and to have been able to contribute to my country and the cause of global food safety.”
JULHAN FAUJI, TÜV NORD INDONESIA,
JAKARTA: 6°18′ S | 107°10′ E