European Service Innovation Think Tank 5th meeting highlighted by the Strategy for European Service Innovation and policy conclusions

The fifth meeting of the EPISIS project gathered the European Service Innovation Think Tank to London on 16-17 May 2011. The major point on the meeting agenda was a final discussion on a Strategy for European Service Innovation. A keynote address was given by Professor Andy Neely from the Cambridge Service Alliance on “servitisation of manufacturing”. A practise of presenting national service innovation policies and measures was also begun in the meeting.

Among the first results of the EPISIS project will be a Strategy for European Service Innovation which will form the basis for final policy recommendations of the EPISIS project. The strategy has been jointly formulated by the EPISIS partners and the Think Tank at the previous Think Tank meetings. Service innovation drivers and challenges were discussed in Stockholm (November 2009), strategic thematic areas in Copenhagen (June 2010) and actions and responsible stakeholders in Berlin (October 2010).

Along the way, several major events and changes (e.g. financial crisis, new Commission with new policy priorities, euro zone problems) have taken place. However, the main overall goal of the EPISIS project – European service innovation policy development – and the drivers for service innovation have remained the same. The identified drivers for service innovation include dynamic markets, critical investments in multi-disciplinary competences, capabilities and innovative knowledge co-creation and service business as an engine for growth. Constant long-term effort and development is needed in these strategic thematic areas if service innovation potential is to be utilised to the fullest extent.

The key note speaker Professor Andy Neely talked about the servitization of manufacturing and pointed out that the shift to service based competitive strategies is not totally new. However, Professor Neely remarked that we are moving away from the world of products, outputs and elements towards the world of solutions, outcomes and eco-systems. Moreover, it is technology that enables servitization. He also demonstrated that USA, Finland and Singapore are the most servitized countries in the world but, for example, China, Japan and France are closing the gap rapidly.

A new Task Force of benchmarking national service innovation policies and measures was also launched in London. The Task Force will start in July 2011 and last for one year. To complement the Task Force, national service innovation policies and measures are presented in each of the upcoming Think Tank meeting. The practise was started In London by Sweden and the UK.

In Sweden, a national strategy for service innovation has recently been published as a response to a need for a better understanding of service innovation and for defining public policies for service innovation. Interaction and cooperation has been the key forces behind the strategy work which echoes the very nature of service innovation, user involvement and co-creation. Currently, Sweden is working on an innovation strategy targeted at 2020.

In the UK, an emphasis has been placed on the importance of infrastructure and demand side factors to stimulate service innovation. Employment in financial and associated professional services is very much concentrated to the London area. Business Services Growth Review 2011 revealed, however, that there is still regulatory and trade barriers. Other barriers relate to the movement of skilled individuals. The growth of companies might be hampered because there is not enough skilled labour available.
Following policy conclusions were issued at the meeting:

• Despite major changes in the environment, the key drivers for service innovation have remained the same
• The identified drivers for service innovation include a) dynamic markets as driver for service innovation; b) critical investments in multi-disciplinary competences, capabilities and innovative knowledge co-creation and c) service business with new types of innovation processes as an engine for growth.
• If service innovation potential is to be utilised to the fullest extent, constant long-term effort and development is needed along the three strategic thematic areas.