Workshop to Develop a Research Agenda for Service Innovation

该奖项为一个研讨会提供资金，将来自不同学科的思想领袖聚集在一起，概述服务创新的科学和工程研究议程。解决服务问题对经济和社会具有巨大的实际影响，因为(a)美国超过80%的工作都在服务部门，大多数科学技术工程和数学（STEM）毕业生都在服务部门工作；(b)许多复杂的服务问题抗拒传统的优化解决方案；(c)由于非技术密集型服务企业的利润率较低，服务业研究的私人投资较低，美国在公共投资方面落后于日本、中国、芬兰和德国等国家。简而言之，寻求服务创新需要新的理论和新的方法来解决服务行业特有的问题，而学生们所学到的关于服务行业的知识已经跟不上服务业STEM工作岗位的快速增长或现代创业机会的增长。对复杂服务和服务创新的有效理解需要一种结合多种方法的新方法，例如，从工业工程和运筹学、社会和行为科学、信息系统、计算机科学和计算建模中汲取经验。如果成功，本次研讨会将通过(a)规划服务研究的社会背景，(b)确定服务创新的技术需求和知识差距，以及(c)提出需要解决的基础科学和工程问题来满足需求和填补空白，为国家科学基金会和行业合作伙伴制定未来服务研究和教育的路线图。预期的结果还包括新的合作和提高研究界的能力，以推进服务的跨学科研究。此外，一些专注于科学、技术、工程和数学领域的服务教育，预计将导致跨学科、跨机构项目的计划。

This award provides funding for a workshop to bring together thought leaders from a variety of disciplines to outline an agenda for scientific and engineering research in service innovation. Solving service problems has enormous practical consequences for the economy and society because (a) more than 80% of jobs in the US are in the service sector, with most Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates working in service; (b) many complex service problems resist traditional optimization solutions; and (c) private investment in service research is low because of low margins in non-technology-intensive service businesses, and the US lags in public investment behind countries such as Japan, China, Finland, and Germany. Simply put, the search for service innovation requires new theories and new methods to address problems unique to services, and what little students are being taught about the service sector has not kept up with the rapid growth of STEM jobs in service or with modern entrepreneurial opportunities. Effective understanding of complex services and innovation in services requires a new approach that combines multiple methods, for example, drawing from industrial engineering and operations research, social and behavioral sciences, information systems, and computer science and computational modeling. If successful, this workshop will develop a roadmap for future service research and education for NSF and industry partners by (a) laying out the societal context for service research, (b) identifying technology needs and knowledge gaps for service innovation, and (c) developing basic science and engineering questions to be addressed to satisfy the needs and fill the gaps. Anticipated outcomes also include new collaborations and increased capacity in the research community for advancing interdisciplinary studies of service. In addition, some focus on education in service from science, technology, engineering, and math fields are expected to result in plans for cross-disciplinary, cross-institution programs.