Vanguard announced a new initiative focused on developing new services for financial advisors and investors.

The Vanguard Innovation Center will be located in Philadelphia and is slated to open in the second quarter of 2017.

“We are in the midst of a great technological revolution—from self-driving cars and package-delivering drones to smart phones and 3D-printers—that is changing the way we live, work, and, in Vanguard’s realm, invest,” said Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb in a released statement. “With a centralized, and centrally located, Innovation Center, Vanguard seeks to harness emerging technologies and new processes to create value for our clients by improving their investing experience and their investment outcomes.”

The Innovation Center will primarily focus on Vanguard’s technological offerings. Currently, 90 percent of Vanguard’s client interactions occur digitally, which allows the company to automate processes, improve the customer experience and operate more efficiently, the company says.

The center will have a 20-member “entrepreneurial team” that will develop new ideas and solutions within the firm, according to the company, adding that it hopes the center will forge partnerships with business and academic leaders in the Philadelphia region.

In its release, the firm touted its Personal Advisor Services, a human/robo-advisor hybrid, as an example of the kind of innovation it would like to support through the Innovation Center.

The company has yet to settle on a location for the center, but wants enough space to house up to 100 workers so the employees can bring some of their academic and business partnerships in-house, according to a Vanguard spokesperson. 

Vanguard says it hopes the center will also be able to evaluate and harness partnerships with universities and other businesses to share research, experience and expertise.

Vanguard also notes that when it opens, the center will mark the firm’s return to its Philadelphia roots. The company traces its lineage back to the Wellington Fund, which was founded by Philadelphia accountant Walter L. Morgan in 1929.