Airbus 2015 Annual Report Download - page 84

AIRBUS GROUP REGISTRATION DOCUMENT 2015 l 52 l
Informationon GroupActivities
1.1 Presentation of the Group
A Lean, Agile Network for Global Innovation
AirbusGroup Innovations – the Company’s global research and
technology network – is managed by the CTO and driven by the
Group’s overall strategy. It leverages a close relationship with
AirbusGroup’s three Divisions to identify new technologies and
breakthrough concepts for eventual transfer to the Group’s
commercial divisions. AirbusGroup Innovations is undergoing
a transformation to become more agile, innovative and aligned
with the needs of the Company’s Divisions. Its teams have
been reorganised into five transnational Innovation Centres
focused around core Group competencies, along with a policy
and development function that includes all support activities.
This structure ensures that AirbusGroup Innovations creates
long-term value for the Group.
AirbusGroup Innovations employs over 1,000 people across
sites in France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Singapore, India and
Russia, along with its operations in China, Japan, South Korea,
Thailand, Malaysia, Canada and the US. This international
presence increases AirbusGroup’s access to diverse talent,
knowledge, disruptive technologies and new markets, which
improves the Company’s flexibility, robustness and ability
to innovate. It also fosters the development of partnerships
with leading universities and high-tech engineering schools
through joint research projects, as well as employment of
thesis students, post-graduate interns and doctorates.
Major Milestones for Electric Aviation
Development of electric and hybrid-propulsion aircraft is one of
the Group’s key priorities for the future, and the CTO is leading
this “E-aircraft Roadmap” with the long-term goal of applying
electric and hybrid-propulsion technologies to helicopters and
regional airliners. In 2015, the AirbusGroup Innovations-led
E-Fan programme captured worldwide attention when the
E-Fan technology demonstrator became the first all-electric
aircraft to cross the English Channel completely on its own
power from takeoff to landing. This was a significant milestone
as AirbusGroup progresses on its E-aircraft Roadmap, and will
help pave the way for development of the E-Fan 2.0 and E-Fan
4.0 serial production versions for pilot training and general
aviation. A number of advanced technologies and ideas are
supporting this drive for more electric aviation, including the
AirbusGroup Innovations-developed “Connected Cockpit”
concept, which was revealed during the year at major public
exhibitions and received significant attention.
Delivering even Higher Quality Products
andServices
The CTO manages the Company-wide Quest quality
improvement initiative that supports the Company’s aim of
delivering even better products and services for customers,
and reducing the cost of non-quality. Quest emphasises
increased focus on customer needs, improving feedback loops
in operations and ensuring robust practical problem solving is
applied. The initiative has been rolled out to all Divisions and
corporate functions, with a significant training, up-skilling and
quality-awareness programme in full implementation, on top
of the normal quality training schedule.
Staying Ahead of Cyber Threats
The CTO’s Cyber Security Programme Directorate is responsible
for safeguarding the Company’s products, manufacturing
systems and IT infrastructure from cyber threats. This operation
combines all of the group-wide competences behind common
objectives and establishes priorities for protecting the Group
from the increasing threat of cyber attacks in the short- and
long-terms.
Intellectual Property and Open Innovation
AirbusGroup’s policy is to establish, protect, maintain and
defend its Intellectual property rights in all commercially
significant countries and to use those rights in responsible
ways. The Group makes select patents and expertise available
through technology transfer and licensing agreements as
part of its Open Innovation processes. Open Innovation and
technology transfer create a win-win situation for sharing
the risks of research and technology with external partners,
while creating new market opportunities for the Group.
Under the CTO’s responsibility, AirbusGroup’s technology
transfer initiative generates revenues by licensing approved
technologies and offering engineering services, along with
forming strategic technology partnerships – such as its
long-term agreement that provides automotive manufacturer
Maserati with access to a wide range of Airbus Group
expertise and know-how.
Successful Ramp-ups and Growth for Spin-offs
The CTO fosters an entrepreneurial spirit with the Corporate
Innovation Nursery. This operation helps accelerate emerging
business applications that will bring added value to the Group
by focusing on new ideas that will affect its business in coming
years, industrialising advanced manufacturing and service
solutions, and managing spin-off companies. In 2015, the
Nursery’s strategy was evolved to further complement the
divisional and Silicon Valley innovation initiatives, and to help
bring products to market faster.
AirbusGroup spin-off companies managed by the Nursery
include TESTIA – the Group’s non-destructive testing and
training subsidiary – and APWORKS, which is a globally-
recognised leader in 3D-printing that offers consulting and
engineering services for state-of-the-art production processes.
Both of these companies continued their successful growth
with new products, services and lines of business launched
during 2015.
Financial Statements 2015
11 22 33 44 55
QRegistration Document 2015
Annual Report 2015 Financial Statements 2015