Facebook will support nonfungible tokens (NFTs) with a “digital collectibles” tab on creators’ timelines to display their work. Meta technical program manager Navdeep Singh displayed screenshots of NFTs and a creator’s page Thursday on Twitter.
A spokesperson for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, told TechCrunch the same day that the rollout of NFTs on Facebook would be gradual, beginning with select creators in the United States. Eventually, NFT creators will be able to cross-post between Facebook and Instagram, another Meta property. Instagram is also testing NFTs in its Spark AR augmented reality platform.
We’re launching NFTs on Facebook! Excited to share what I’ve been working on with the world. pic.twitter.com/TaV66zRanV
Instagram expanded its NFT trial from the U.S. to international users last week. The app allows NFTs minted on Ethereum and Polygon to be displayed, with other NFTs from Solana and Flow planned as well.
Meta announced in May that it was beginning tests of NFTs on Instagram, with Facebook to follow suit “soon,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Other Meta-owned apps, such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, will get NFT display capabilities eventually, he added.
Facebook rebranded as Meta in October 2021. It has been striving to expand in Web3, but not all of its efforts have been successful. Meta gave up on it attempt to launch the Diem stablecoin in February after significant opposition from regulators worldwide. Nonetheless, Meta filed trademark applications for a Meta Pay payments platform in May and Zuckerberg announced on June 22 that Meta Pay would replace Facebook Pay.
Meta Pay will be available on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, Zuckerberg said. However, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch that Meta “said that it won’t offer the ability to turn digital collectible posts into ads for now” on Facebook, so it appears that Meta will not launch NFT sales there.
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The rise of environmental, social and governance (ESG) has set the new gold standard of corporate leadership, especially for listed companies.
In one global survey conducted in December 2020, it was found that 88% of global public companies have ESG initiatives in place, followed by 79% of venture and private equity-backed companies and 67% of privately-owned companies.
Unlike the “corporate social responsibility” model, ESG provides a framework for companies to document their work and the subsequent consequence on environmental, social and governance aspects.
To date, ESG reporting is mandatory for publicly traded companies in some jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong. But is ESG relevant to listed companies only? Is ESG reporting itself sufficient enough to communicate companies’ ESG initiatives effectively with a hitherto disparate community of stakeholders?
1. ESG storytelling is relevant to companies of any size
As consumers are increasingly concerned about sustainability issues, the right ESG story promises brand relevance and marketability. CGS Survey shows that two-thirds of customers would pay 25% more just to obtain green products.
Such strengthened brand relevance grants corporates a persistent outstanding reputation for 92% of consumers and brand loyalty from 88% of them, as found by Cone Communications, implying increased marketability potential.
Meanwhile, companies with strong ESG values have a higher chance to attract and retain top talents. According to Mercer’s 2020 Global Talent Trends study, one in three employees would prefer to work for an organization that shows responsibility towards all stakeholders.
ESG storytelling builds an emotional connection between corporates, consumers and employees, as the company’s ESG initiatives would showcase the corporate values that align with its stakeholders’ ethical consumption beliefs and its long-term commitment to creating value for them.
ESG investing continues to gain momentum globally, and a report from Broadridge Financial Solutions suggests that ESG assets could hit the $30 trillion mark by 2030. Given the hot money in the ESG space, there are growing concerns about businesses superficially putting on the ESG label to lure investors’ money. InfluenceMap, a non-profit, has warned that over half of ESG-labeled investment funds involved exaggerations.
Traditionally, ESG reporting involves a range of industry-specific terminologies and technical data, which is not easily comprehended by stakeholders. Often unknowingly, technical data from specialists becomes incomprehensible, misinterpreted, and thus futile. One-third of respondents from a survey conducted at the Asian Financial Forum 2022 even found unintelligible ESG standards the most significant factor impeding ESG decision-making.
ESG storytelling can bridge the gaps, putting ESG initiatives into easily comprehensible contexts and perspectives across disciplines. ESG storytelling can come in many forms. Even major objectives as ambitious as sustainable development goals could be discussed and studied in the form of a simple multiplayer card game, also known as the 2030 SDGs Game.
Meanwhile, ESG storytelling is not entirely different from that of traditional corporate storytelling. What communicators can do is integrate the ESG components into corporate storytelling, be transparent about companies’ ESG practices and communicate the impacts of their business operations on ESG matters authentically.
3. A price to pay without authentic ESG storytelling
Corporates with successful ESG initiatives could help maintain a positive public perception, but greenwashing concerns remain a potential setback.
BNY Mellon, for example, has just received a penalty of $1.5 million for providing deceptive ESG investment information. A Brazilian meatpacking company, JBS, had to face the potential consequence of having investment funds withdrawn and losing major buyers after it was exposed for having produced more carbon emissions rather than fulfilling ESG initiatives, according to a media report.
Indeed, companies found to not have truly carried out ESG strategies would receive public backlash and suffer major PR crises. A study conducted by Cone Communications in 2017 has also found that nearly 80% of customers would stop consuming goods and services from corporates revealed to have acted contrarily to their beliefs. This implies huge financial losses.
ESG storytelling provides a concrete answer to consumers’ doubts. By giving a precise, specific and detailed narration of corporate responses towards ESG issues that is backed up by statistical data and tangible evidence, companies could resolve greenwashing suspicions, maintain corporate integrity and gain the trust of almost 90% of consumers, the same report by Cone Communications suggests.
All in all, ESG is much more than a mere PR exercise, but communicators have a key role to play, as they are tasked with creating a narrative that brings companies’ ESG initiatives to life, creates emotional bonding with stakeholders based on values and prevents potential issues and crises that would kill a brand.
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Pilots talk as they look at the tail of an American Airlines aircraft.
Mike Stone | Reuters
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom on Thursday said the carrier has offered its pilots pay raises totaling nearly 17% under a new contract, according to an internal video seen by CNBC.
The latest proposal to the pilots’ union, the Allied Pilots Association, comes less than a week after rival United Airlines and its pilots’ union reached a tentative agreement that includes more than 14% in total raises within 18 months, the first major U.S. airline in the industry to get to that point in the pandemic.
That agreement faces a vote by United’s pilots that ends in mid-July, however, and it is still not clear whether it has enough support to pass.
Earlier this month, Isom said American would make a new offer to the carrier’s roughly 15,000 pilots once the details of United’s deal were released.
Its proposal includes a 6% raise at signing and then 5% raises at the start of 2023 and 2024.
“United put forth industry leading pay, and we matched that for our team,” Isom said in the video message Thursday, referring to pilot pay rates. The difference in percentages is due to higher pay for United pilots.
American’s latest proposal comes as the industry is struggling with a shortage of pilots, particularly at smaller regional airlines. At the same time, travel demand has soared, catching many airlines flat-footed, especially during peak travel periods.
Isom said American is proposing other pay increases for training and 50% premium on reassignment, including for reserve crews. There are other incentives such as retroactive pay if the agreement is ratified by Sept. 30, he said.
“Getting a deal done quickly will help strengthen our training program and ensure we can continue to grow,” he said.
Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines captain and spokesman for the union, said the APA is reviewing the proposal.
The APA’s relationship with American has been one of the most fraught in the industry. The union has repeatedly complained about fatigue from grueling schedules and other quality of life issues, such as schedule changes, issues it wanted addressed in the next contract.
American pilots have picketed to protest working conditions and a lack of progress in negotiations.
Pilots for Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines have also picketed for similar reasons. Delta’s pilots most recently picketed at airports around the U.S. on Thursday, all three are in contract negotiations.
Earlier this week, American Airlines’ regional carrier Envoy Air said pilots could receive triple pay for picking up open trips in July, CNBC reported earlier this week.
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Hong Kong, China – German entrepreneur Joseph loved his life in Hong Kong. When not tending to his logistics company, he would enjoy strolls along the waterfront promenade, weekend brunches in the upscale Soho district and foot and back massages to relieve the daily stresses of life.
But less than two years after setting up his business in Hong Kong, Joseph in January decided he could see no future in the city and relocated to Singapore.
“Many potential investors are hesitant to invest in Hong Kong as they don’t think it is a safe location to start a company any more,” the 28-year-old professional, who asked to be referred to by first name, told Al Jazeera.
“I can see that the city changed in front of my eyes. Hong Kong has been one of the most cosmopolitan cities but the protests and COVID restrictions mean that advantage is fading…Investors don’t feel legally safe because they don’t know if there’s still neutrality in Hong Kong’s judicial system, while the legal system in China is full of grey areas. There are enough uncertainties in businesses, why do we want more?”
Hong Kong is marking 25 years since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty [File: Joyce Zhou/Reuters]
Tens of thousands of residents have exited the former British colony as Beijing’s tightening authoritarian control and strict pandemic restrictions aimed at aligning with China’s “zero-COVID” strategy dramatically reshape life in the city.
More than 120,000 people, locals and expatriates alike, departed in 2020 and 2021, with tens of thousands more expected to follow this year.
In a survey carried out by the American Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong last year, more than 40 percent of expats said they were planning to leave or considering it, mostly due to concerns over a draconian national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, stringent COVID restrictions that limit international travel and a bleak outlook for the city’s future competitiveness.
At the same time, fewer professionals are moving to the territory, with the number of applications for work visas dropping from 41,592 in 2018 to 14,617 in 2020, according to government data.
From humble beginnings as a fishing village, Hong Kong transformed into an international business hub with a vibrant stock market often ranked alongside Singapore, London and New York.
After Hong Kong was ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Nanking that ended the First Opium War in 1842, the territory became a regional centre for financial and commercial services.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the city transitioned away from manufacturing to financial services as factories, initially staffed by cheap labourers from mainland China, sought cheaper labour overseas.
Under the “Open Door” economic reforms initiated by Chinese President Deng Xiaoping in 1978, the city’s integration with China deepened, spurring vigorous international investment and trade.
Five years later, the Hong Kong dollar was officially pegged to the US dollar, after uncertainty over the then colony’s future resulted in a sharp depreciation of the currency.
Under the terms of Hong Kong’s return to China, Beijing promised to preserve the city’s way of life for at least 50 years [File: Dylan Martinez/Reuters]
Under the terms of Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997, Beijing promised to preserve the city’s way of life, including civil liberties and political freedoms not available in mainland China, for at least 50 years under the principle of “one country, two systems”.
Those freedoms, however, have rapidly declined amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent that has practically wiped out the city’s pro-democracy opposition and forced the closure of independent media outlets and dozens of civil society organisations.
Incoming Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has pledged to strengthen Hong Kong’s reputation as a global financial centre, without offering a timetable for reopening the city to the world.
Lee, a former security chief who ran unopposed in an election tightly controlled by Beijing, has hailed the national security law for restoring order and stability and described the implementation of “one country, two systems” since the handover as “resoundingly successful”.
But for international companies, the uncertainty created by the law, which has resulted in more than 200 arrests and instituted significant changes to the city’s feted British-inherited legal system, has become a major source of anxiety, according to Michael Davis, a former law professor at the University of Hong Kong.
“The vague national security law causes considerable uncertainty about acceptable behaviour for international companies,” Davis told Al Jazeera.
“The pressure on the courts that has accompanied enforcement has likely reduced confidence in the rule of law, which has historically been the city’s distinguishing characteristic to attract international business.”
Davis said international firms also face pressure to support Beijing’s policies “while at the same time these companies face pressure in democracies where they operate to not support such repressive policies, at the risk of market exclusion”.
Hong Kong’s strict quarantine rules have spurred an exodus of expats from the city [File: Bloomberg]
For Joseph, who led the Asia operations of a logistics firm before setting up his own company, Hong Kong’s fading appeal is undeniable.
“Hong Kong had many advantages like easy cash inflow and outflow, and the law system is close to Britain’s common law system,” he said. “It was politically and judicially stable. At the time my former company could choose [to set up the Asia headquarters] between Singapore and Hong Kong, and we chose Hong Kong as it was the gateway to China.”
Hong Kong’s strict COVID restrictions, which once included 21 days of mandatory hotel quarantine for incoming travellers, have further damaged the city’s allure.
Despite branding itself as “Asia’s World City”, the territory remains one of the few places outside China to quarantine arrivals, while its “circuit-breaker” policy of suspending flight routes linked to COVID cases regularly leaves travellers stranded overseas.
“This [policy] escalates the cost for expatriates to visit their family in foreign countries,” Vera Yuen, a lecturer of economics at the University of Hong Kong, told Al Jazeera.
“The quarantine requirement has been later modified to seven days, but the circuit-breaker policy has been upheld. It was too late to keep these people in Hong Kong, especially when compared with much of the rest of the world, in which quarantine measures are no longer in place. As uncertainty prevails, another outbreak can lead to stricter measures again. They decided to relocate to a place that gives them more personal freedom.”
Many local residents, too, have lost hope in the city.
Ip, a 30-year-old financial worker, said she plans to move to the UK in the near future due to the “increasingly undesirable environment”.
“I am working in a British company, but many British and European coworkers resigned and returned to their home countries,” Ip told Al Jazeera, asking to be identified by her surname only. “I think Hong Kong companies will lose their international nature.
“In the long run, the asset management industry might see lower demand due to less asset inflows. Coupled with a questionable [national] education here for my future kids and the city’s lack of innovation in the past 25 years, I do want to leave Hong Kong,” Ip added.
Hong Kong’s financial system is becoming increasingly integrated with mainland China [File: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg]
Whatever Hong Kong’s future holds, there is little doubt it will be more closely bound to China. Already, more than half of the companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) are from the mainland.
Yuen, the economics lecturer, said China hopes to use Hong Kong to achieve economic goals including the internationalisation of the renminbi (Chinese currency) through “hosting RMB-denominated bonds and being an off-shore centre of RMB exchange”.
“Hong Kong’s stock market is increasingly dominated by mainland companies,” she said.
In 2014, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect was launched to provide mutual equity access between the Hong Kong and mainland markets, followed by an expansion two years later to include Shenzhen, allowing mainland investors access to smaller companies in Hong Kong.
In 2018, a change in the rules for weighted voting rights led to a wave of mainland Chinese company listings, including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group in November the following year. Last year, Wealth Management Connect was launched to provide access to investment products among Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau.
While Hong Kong’s freedoms and international character have suffered, the city’s increasing alignment with China has been accompanied by growing wealth. Since 1997, the city’s economy has more than doubled, with gross domestic product (GDP) reaching $368bn in 2021 – although GDP shrank 4 percent in the first quarter percent year-on-year as pandemic restrictions weighed on growth.
Davis, the law professor, predicted that Beijing would pour investment into Hong Kong in order to create a “dominant position” for mainland companies and “undermine the traditional prominence” of local and international businesses.
For Joseph, the days of Hong Kong as a gateway for foreign businesses to access China are in the past.
“If I want to set up a company to do Chinese business, I’d start one in Shanghai instead,” he said.
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On June 29, Selena Gomez celebrated the upcoming launch of Rare Beauty’s Kind Words Matte Lipstick and Liner Collection in sunny California — looking daringly business posh, I must add. We can’t help but crush over the nail polish color she wore to celebrate the range of lipstick and lip liner shades that will soon be launching.
Rare Beauty’s latest collection is dedicated to the lips; matte finishes and burgundy shades are set to be featured throughout each product. To welcome the anticipated collection, the choice of lipstick shade Gomez wore to the event was confirmed by content creator Victoria-Lyn in a Instagram clip. She chose her favorite lipstick shade, called Gifted — set to launch in the first week of July. To complement the lipstick color, manicurist Tom Bachik remained on theme with a similar nail color to match the creamy shade.
The actor’s manicure felt sweet and simple with a nail shape that leaned toward squoval. Bachik filed her nails to fingertip length, representing Team Short Nails with a charmingly simple manicure. As always, Bachik gave us another opportunity to save the color to our manicure mood boards. Allure caught glimpse of his Instagram stories, where he revealed that Brick Red by Korean nail polish brand Mithmillo was the color of choice used on Gomez.
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Deal includes fuel price decrease and other concessions, bringing an end to weeks of anti-government demonstrations.
The government of Ecuador and Indigenous protest leaders have reached an agreement to end mass demonstrations that paralysed parts of the South American nation since mid-June.
Led by Indigenous organisation CONAIE, the protests began on June 13 amid anger about soaring fuel prices and rising costs of living, as well as the socioeconomic policies of right-wing President Guillermo Lasso’s administration.
The deal, which includes a decrease in the price of fuel and other concessions, was signed on Thursday by Minister Francisco Jimenez, Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza and the head of the Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Luis Cabrera, who acted as mediator.
Iza announced after the signing that “we will suspend” the protest.
The agreement set out that petrol prices will decrease 15 cents to $2.40 per gallon and diesel prices will also decline the same amount, from $1.90 per gallon to $1.75.
It also set limits to the expansion of oil exploration areas and prohibits mining activity in protected areas, national parks and water sources.
The deal also provides for “the cessation of the mobilisations and the gradual return [of the demonstrators] to the territories” from which they came to join the protest.
“Social peace will only be able to be achieved, hopefully soon, through dialogue with particular attention paid to marginalised communities, but always respecting everyone’s rights,” Cabrera said.
The government now has 90 days to deliver solutions to the demands of the Indigenous group.
Lasso tweeted on Thursday afternoon that, “we have achieved the supreme value to which we all aspire: peace in our country”.
“The strike is over. Now we begin together the task of transforming this peace into progress, wellbeing, and opportunities for all,” he added.
An estimated 14,000 Ecuadorans took part in the demonstrations, which paralysed parts of the capital, Quito, and other areas as protesters burned tyres and blocked roadways to demand government action.
After several years of a particularly severe COVID-19 crisis, rising inflation and unemployment pushed many people to join the protests. In addition to cuts to fuel costs, the demonstrators had called for jobs, food price controls and more public spending on health care and education.
Clashes with the security forces left five civilians and one soldier dead and hundreds injured, with some 150 people arrested. Human rights groups also had raised concerns about the authorities’ crackdown on the protests.
A man of the Indigenous guardianship participates in a protest in Quito, Ecuador, June 30, 2022 [Karen Toro/Reuters]
Negotiations to end the demonstrations began on Monday but were cut short the following day after the killing of a soldier that the government blamed on protesters.
On Wednesday, the government said it would re-enter the talks, but also imposed a fresh state of emergency in four of the country’s 24 provinces as violence continued to mar the countrywide uprising.
Lasso survived an impeachment vote on Tuesday brought by opposition politicians blaming him for the “serious political crisis and internal commotion” caused by the protests.
Indigenous people make up more than a million of Ecuador’s 17.7 million inhabitants.
Poverty affects more than a quarter of Ecuadorans, according to 2021 data, and only about one in three have “adequate employment” in a country with a large informal job sector.
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Technological innovation is at the heart of IBM Bromont. Founded in 1972 to meet the needs of the Canadian computer market, the plant has evolved over the years to climb the hierarchy of the computer behemoth – setting itself apart from competitors who have fled North America to Asian countries in the last decades.
Today, IBM assembles and tests its semiconductor solutions in the quaint town of Bromont, an hour from Montréal, and provides services to clients – notably in the telecommunications industry.
For employees using new technologies daily at the plant, the work can resemble a children’s party in a toy store: while some CIOs struggle to initiate a digital shift, the transformation at IBM-Bromont is never-ending.
“It’s been 50 years of reinventing and adapting the plant,” Louis Labelle says, executive advisor at IBM Canada and chief officer at Bromont from 2012 to 2022. IBM Bromont’s products and services are only part of the plant’s innovation. Under the guidance of its leaders, many IT solutions are developed and used on-prem continuously to improve processes and optimize operations of the plant itself.
AI: The cream of the crop
Louis Labelle, executive advisor at IBM Canada
Courtesy IBM
More than 100 million organizations around the world use IBM Watson technology when it comes to implementing AI solutions. No wonder artificial intelligence is in full swing at Bromont: “We sell what we use, and we use what we sell,” Labelle says.
“We have access to the full portfolio of IBM solutions,” says Stéphane Tremblay, the plant’s current chief executive. Among the latest tools, Bromont is using IBM Maximo Visual Inspection – an image recognition technology used to inspect micro-welds on the assembly line – and IBM Maximo Health, which “listens” to the noise emitted by the equipment to detect the slightest malfunction before it occurs.
“We also use AI for the supply chain,” Labelle says. IBM Supply Chain Intelligence Suite makes recommendations to the plant analysts about what purchases should be made.
This tool is particularly important in a context of supply scarcity, since it can suggest that a purchase be made earlier than usual when procurement lead times are longer – as is the case with the current pandemic and international crisis. Supply Chain Intelligence even allows for variations in sourcing when alternatives exist.
“Since we’re at IBM, we can use these systems as soon as they become available and quickly train our staff on them,” Tremblay says. “It’s very motivating for employees to contribute to the development of innovative projects like these.”
As with all companies in the industry, recruiting new employees is proving more difficult than it used to be for IBM – even though the plant is located in the heart of a talent pool – with the University of Sherbrooke nearby among others.
“We’re able to meet our needs, but we have to work twice as hard to get there,” Labelle says. Projects like the ones IBM continually puts in place can help tip the balance, he adds.
Mobility: a super tablet for everyone
Bromont’s IT does not innovate only with AI. With the help of the engineering department, they’ve been implementing a mobility project for the past two years in which all plant personnel – operators, maintenance employees, supervisors, and engineering departments – are equipped with state-of-the-art tablets.
“It can be used for just about anything,” Tremblay says: controlling plant equipment remotely (which increases operators’ freedom of movement), video training, filming a problem to show to another department and get help. New features are being added to those tablets all the time, even as they’re being developed by the company.
Stéphane Tremblay, chief executive of IBM’s Bromont plant
Courtesy of Stéphane Tremblay
“This journey is far from over,” Tremblay says. We’re constantly adding new projects related to employee mobility on the plant floor, such as the use of augmented reality.”
Over time, these solutions will be used in other areas of manufacturing. They will be integrated into new devices, for example for allowing access permissions to different pieces of equipment based on user types – and providing data customized to each employee.
The increased autonomy of personnel brought about by growing mobility also brings with it new challenges, including training and certification. “That’s the reality of being an operator at IBM Bromont,” Labelle says. “No one is assigned to a single piece of equipment. We train and certify our employees on an ongoing basis.”
Automation and optimization
IBM decided to stay in Bromont when all its competitors were rushing to Asia in the ‘80s and ‘90s in the hope of reducing operating costs. But for IBM, there were security issues related to the assembly of encryption systems for the company’s servers. The fact that expertise had grown at the plant over the years and that its production was constantly diversifying also weighed heavily in the computer giant’s choice.
“That’s when developing more automated solutions became an economic necessity,” Tremblay says.
Many of the operations performed at Bromont were also automated due to technical needs: “We put together semiconductors: there are components that are much too small and require way too much precision to be manufactured by humans,” Tremblay says.
So, the future of the plant sits squarely in Industry 4.0 – the “fourth industrial revolution.” IBM Bromont is striving to reuse the data collected during its operations to reinject into its processes. The goal is to increase productivity and perform continuous self-correction. “All of our equipment is connected, which means that our IT teams have access to an incredible wealth of data,” Labelle says.
The joint development of process optimization – which involves both manufacturing and engineering teams – can’t happen overnight. “Data reinjection is not yet deployed everywhere, but our teams are working on it relentlessly,” Labelle says. With the labour shortage we’re experiencing right now, this recycling is now required for optimal operations.”
On the brink of tomorrow’s computing
Another major project is taking shape in Bromont: jointly with the government of Québec, the plant announced this year that it will house a Quantum System One – IBM’s first quantum computer in Canada. “Our mission is to ensure its maintenance and proper operation,” Tremblay says.
Again, this futuristic technology will require adaptation, training, and certification by IT teams. Training will not only be given to the plant’s employees but also to other companies and to the Québec academic sector: the Quantum System One will be the core of the Québec-IBM Discovery Accelerator, intended to establish a quantum innovation zone in the province and to shape IT’s future.
For example, the plant’s quantum system will be used to model new materials and employ new digital technologies for sustainable development, drug discovery and high-performance computing.
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