S5. E17. 數位轉型的支柱 THE BACKBONE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

數位化賦予創新藥物的潛能。百靈佳殷格翰身為以研發為導向的生物製藥公司，從最先進的 IT 基礎架構，到位於中國上海的新數位實驗室，正為其參與的所有領域推動數位化轉型 。

隨著2020年初 COVID-19 在全球迅速蔓延，數百萬人突然改變了工作模式，開始居家上班。對百靈佳殷格翰的多數同仁而言，這個模式在2020年3月就開始實施。當時，董事委員會立即決定讓可以居家上班的同仁轉為遠端作業，直到公司另行發布通知。公司努力確保同仁們盡可能地免受 SARS-CoV-2 新型冠狀病毒侵害。藉由這項措施，公司也降低因業務流程帶來的風險，並專注於研發、生產及供應。

百靈佳殷格翰在歐洲、美洲及亞洲，擁有超過51,000名員工；對於像百靈佳殷格翰這樣規模的企業來說，要在很短的時間內全速將大家切換為遠端工作，是一個重大挑戰 ，對IT 基礎架構更是如此。百靈佳殷格翰全球 IT 基礎架構服務部門主管 Gerhard Kraus 回憶當時的狀況：「當發布居家工作的通知時，每個人都知道這會對公對業務造成影響；對我們的 IT 領域也是。幸好當時我們的 IT 基礎架構已經做好準備。整個預備過程大約花了四週：兩週的預備工作，兩週的後續調整及完善作業。」

百靈佳殷格翰在數年前已經對 IT 領域進行重大改革，如：大量投資於硬體設備（尤其是能支援遠端工作的筆記型電腦和智慧型手機），轉為遠端工作因此相對容易。當 COVID-19 出現時，已經有 90% 的同仁具備遠端工作所需要的硬體設備。早期大家以 Skype for Business 聯繫，並在數年前取消電話，是另一個關鍵原因。導入Microsoft Teams、SharePoint 和 OneNote 等工具是轉型為遠端工作的另一個重要措施。同仁們已經熟悉數位化協作工具。網路的發展、遠端存取能力，和防火牆的升級，是確保公司能順利過渡為遠端工作的額外措施。自 2020 年 3 月轉為遠端工作迄今，每天有多達 40,000 位同仁在公司外的地點工作。

百靈佳殷格翰於2020年春季在上海成立了 BI X 數位創新實驗室的第二個辦公室。上海的新團隊與在殷格翰的同事們一起工作（ 第一代 BI X 實驗室於 2017 年成立）。

在 BI X 數位創新實驗室，數據科學家、設計師及軟體工程師，致力於為醫療保健產業研發創新的數位醫療方案，包含：應用程式、工具，和大數據應用程式。在 BI X 數位創新實驗室成立三年內， BI X 已經與人類製藥、動物保健，以及生物製藥契約合作廠商的同事們，一起開發了九種數位產品。其中包含智能助理 ADAM （Advanced Design Assistant for Molecules，高級分子設計助理，可以加速發現創新藥物分子）、PetPro Connect 平台（參Digital Pet Healthcare，讓位於美國的獸醫及寵物飼主能以安全並且使用者友善的方式，藉由視訊及訊息溝通）。

THE BACKBONE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Digitalization offers enormous potential for the development of innovative pharmaceuticals. That is why Boehringer Ingelheim, as a research-driven biopharmaceutical company, is driving digital trans- formation in all areas of its organization – from its state-of-the-art IT infrastructure to its new digital laboratory in Shanghai, China.

With the rapid global spread of COVID-19 in early 2020, mil-lions of people have made the abrupt shift to working from home. For most of Boehringer Ingelheim’s employees, this step came in mid-March 2020: At that time, the company’s Board of Managing Directors decided that employees who could work from home should switch to remote working until further notice. The company thus undertook efforts to ensure that its employees were protected from SARS-CoV-2 as well as possible. Through this measure, the company mitigated the risk to its own business processes, with a focus on R&D, production, and supply.

For a company the size of Boehringer Ingelheim, with more than 51,000 employees across Europe, the Americas, and Asia, this switch to remote working within a very short time and under full steam, posed a major challenge, particularly for the IT infrastructure. “When the decision was made to send everyone home, we immediately knew that this was a business- critical situation for the entire company, but also for us in IT,” Gerhard Kraus, Head of Global IT Infrastructure Services at Boehringer Ingelheim, recalls. “However, thanks to our IT infrastructure, we were prepared. Our entire preparation process took roughly four weeks: two weeks of preparation and two weeks of subsequent adjustments and refinements.”

The switch to remote working was comparatively easy because the company had already implemented important changes to its IT in previous years: Boehringer Ingelheim had made significant investments in hardware – particularly notebooks and smartphones that support a re- mote work environment. Already 90 percent of the employees had the hardware needed for remote working when the COVID-19 pandemic arose. The early introduction of communication via Skype for Business and the removal of telephones, which began several years ago, was another key factor. The introduction of tools such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneNote had been another important move in switching to remote working. Employees were already familiar with the tools of digital collaboration. The expansion of the network, remote access capacities, and the upgrading of firewalls were additional measures to ensure a smooth transition to remote working. Since the switch to remote working in March 2020, up to 40,000 users work from outside the company network every day.

Some of these employees work in Shanghai, China, where Boehringer Ingelheim opened a second office of its digital laboratory BI X in the spring of 2020. The new team in Shanghai works closely with their colleagues in Ingelheim, where BI X was founded in 2017.

At BI X, data scientists, designers, and software engineers work on innovative digital solutions for the healthcare industry, including apps, tools, and big data applications. Within its first three years, BI X had already developed nine digital products together with their colleagues in Human Pharma, Animal Health, and Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing. These include the smart assistant ADAM (Advanced Design Assistant for Molecules), which speeds up the discovery of innovative drug molecules. The PetPro Connect platform (see page 31) is another product that enables veterinarians and pet owners in the United States to communicate via video and text in a secure and user-friendly manner.