Photos: Top:  (From Left) Bernd Leukert (Member of the Executive Board at SAP, Products & Innovation), Dilipkumar Khandelwal(Managing Director SAP Labs India, Executive Vice President & Global Head of Enterprise Cloud Services, SAP), Gerhard Oswald( Former member of executive board, SAP Global), and Nandan Nilekani (Cofounder of Infosys and Chairman of UIDAI) at the opening of the Gerhard Oswald Innovation Space in Whitefield ( Photo bottom), Bangalore, on  April 20 2017.
Bangalore, April 22, 2017: SAP  has launched the Gerhard Oswald Innovation Space in Whitefield,   within its campus in this city. 
The state of the art facility is named after a former member of the SAP Executive Board, who played a significant role in driving SAP India’s growth during his tenure at SAP. The facility is spread across 5.15 lakh square feet and will accommodate over 2,500 of SAP Labs India’s employees.  Since 2014, SAP has invested approximately EUR 50 million into building the new facility which sits within the SAP Labs India campus. 
SAP Labs India is now the second largest Research & Development (R&D) facility for SAP globally. among its network of 19 labs in 16 countries. It plays an important role in the research and development of SAP’s key products and solutions such as SAP HANA and SAP S/4HANA, and holds key product responsibilities across the Customer Engagement, Human Capital Management, Analytics and Internet of Things (IoT) portfolios. SAP Labs India is also home to the SAP Startup Studio, an accelerator programme that was launched in 2016 to incubate startups and nurture their growth.
“India is a fast-growing economy with great potential and remains a key location for SAP. The innovation space will be an environment for further research and innovation, empowering our employees to develop solutions that will help accelerate our customers’ digital transformation journey,” said Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products & Innovation.
The design of the new facility enables collaboration and teamwork with liberal open space incorporated into the work space. The space includes recreational and wellness facilities to promote health and wellness among employees, such as the creation of 500 meters, dual lane synthetic jogging track.
“To foster innovation, we believe it is important to create work environments that promotes free thinking, seeds bold ideas and creates opportunities for strong collaboration. We have incorporated elements of both work and play in this facility,” said Dilipkumar Khandelwal, Managing Director SAP Labs India and Executive Vice President Enterprise Cloud Services.  
Designed to minimize the development footprint and maximize open space, the facility includes high oxygen yielding indoor plants that not only contribute to a conducive environment but also helps to purify the air in the workspace. More than two-thirds of the Innovation Space is open, with 50% of it maintained as landscaped green area. It also has incorporated several energy and water conservation measures. These include lighting management systems that harvests daylight, interactive solar power panels, and water treatment plants. A 38-meter steel pillar is erected to display the handprints of SAP Labs India employees as an expression of their solidarity with the company.