NTT DATA has launched its Empowered Work initiative to modernize its employee experience through an ecosystem of tools aimed to create a more efficient, sustainable, collaborative and accessible workplace. 

Empowered Work aims to leverage human-centered design, AI, automation and analytics technologies to guide the company’s clients and employees in the adoption and implementation of hybrid workplace strategies and best practices, the company said Monday.

The new initiative was created in response to a growing demand for improved customer and employee experiences, secure anytime/anywhere workspaces and increased collaboration capabilities as employers work to unify a workforce that is increasingly dispersed.

“We believe employers have an increasing responsibility to look out for the whole person. NTT DATA is on a mission to empower our workforce and clients as they go from the great resignation to the great transformation,” said NTT DATA’s Chief Digital and Strategy Officer, Eric Clark.

As part of the Empowered Work initiative, NTT DATA will take a holistic view of digital and consulting services to advance companies’ digital transformation objectives and create an innovative, modern work environment for their employees.

Additionally, NTT DATA plans to build “smart-space” hubs in major cities such as Boston, Washington D.C. and New York where employees and clients have access to multi-screen dynamic collaboration tools, a virtual receptionist and room scheduling services in support of both in-person and virtual collaborative work environments.

Recently, NTT DATA launched a Smart Back to Work Application designed to help federal agencies comply with new COVID-19 safety protocols and vaccination requirements.

ColdQuanta has begun work under its first Quantum Research as a Service Division project to build a Custom Ion Trap System for the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL).

The newly established QRaaS division, which operates alongside ColdQuanta’s Quantum Computing and Cold Atom Technology groups, will create an ion trapping system that utilizes a modular design to enable rapid testing of cryogenic electronics, system integration strategies and ion trap architectures, the company said Monday.

Max Perez, general manager of Quantum Research as a Service (QRaaS) for ColdQuanta said, “ORNL’s cryogenic ion trapping systems are the perfect type of project for ColdQuanta’s Quantum Research as a Service division because it furthers the adoption of quantum in familiar areas like computing, networking, and simulation.”

The company’s Custom Ion Trap System will leverage experimental hardware, system integration of vacuum hardware and trapped ion-utilizing experimental architectures to advance quantum research, drive quantum adoption at the federal level and enhance applications such as computing, timekeeping, networks and communications.

ColdQuanta’s ion trapping system will address known cryogenic system vacuum performance and noise issues with enhancements like a macroscopic vacuum chamber, an atomic source, thermal links, trapping electronics, a compact helical resonator and active and passive vacuum pumping mechanisms.

Recently, ColdQuanta was chosen to participate in the White House Summit on Quantum Industry and Society, a roundtable discussion with industry leaders and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in response to the Biden Administration’s identification of quantum computers and sensors as a critical technology in the nation’s future.

Perez additionally noted that the project with ORNL will further the QRaaS division’s mission of supporting government agencies and enterprises through the research, development and implementation of breakthrough quantum technologies.