Our strategy focuses on customer, innovation and profitable growth to ensure a sustainable business. For Rolls-Royce that means growing our business whilst achieving a positive economic, social and environmental impact.
We will deliver better power to our customers, use innovation to secure a better future, and build on today's achievements to develop a better business, ready for the challenges ahead.
We invest more than £1 billion each year in research and development to ensure that we conceive, design and deliver world-class technology that meets our customers' current and future requirements. This year we have established a Science and Technology Committee to give greater attention to this at a Board level.
I am especially proud of our collaborative approach to innovation. Particularly our work with leading universities across the world on designated topics and technologies.
We need to attract, develop and retain outstanding talent everywhere we operate, commercial and functional talent as much as engineering talent. Our community programmes remain directed towards encouraging young people, particularly females, to choose science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.
We also place a high priority on the training and professional development of our own people. We are exploring ways of accelerating and broadening career paths for our highest potential talent across the world and for further increasing diversity. This is an important element of changing and strengthening our culture.
Fundamental to a healthy company are strong ethical standards and behaviours, supported by good governance. We are updating and upgrading our governance structures and controls, with a particular focus on risk and compliance procedures.
Our goal is to be a leading sustainable business. The Board and management are united in this endeavour.