Kurt-Werner Sikora, Management Representative for the SER Group, visited the China University for Mining and Technology (CUMT) in Xuzhou on 21 and 22 October 2014. The CUMT is among the 100 most important universities in China and has received special state funding due to its position as an elite university since 1995 within the "211 Project".

In addition to the transfer of knowledge, the purpose of the cooperation is an intercultural exchange via working environments and their business processes. Graduates of CUMT are to be given the opportunity to take on attractive tasks at the subsidiaries of international concerns on the basis of additional qualifications gained in their home country. Another aim of the cooperation is the customisation of SER software to the administrative tasks and special work processes carried out in Chinese companies. One of the key aspects discussed in Xuzhou: "Localising application software also means adapting to the work culture!"

SER is looking to provide its customers with locations in China both with an optimally adapted ECM software solution, as well as highly qualified personnel resources for the implementation of ECM projects and the use of software on site.

Memorandum of Understanding signed

As part of the visit, Kurt-Werner Sikora and the President of the University Ge Shirong signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Chinese university and the German corporate group. Those representing the Chinese partner included officials responsible for party and government affairs within the university, the research institute for science and technology, the foreign language institute, the computer colleges and the International Exchange office.

Important content covered by the Memorandum:

• CUMT will support SER in the translation of ECM software from English/German into Chinese, and localisation of the software to meet the requirements of the Chinese market.
• For this, SER and CUMT will be setting up an ECM lab together at the university.
• Teams made up of three Chinese and three German graduates will be assigned the task of adapting the software to the Chinese working environment.
• SER will be providing select students with scholarships in the fields of business informatics, technical informatics, linguistics and business administration.
• Within these scholarships, SER will assume the costs for semesters spent abroad and/or placements in Germany for six or twelve months.
• SER will support bilingual Bachelor/Master courses of study or placement reports in connection with stays in Germany.