Reimagining Ireland's Innovation Landscape to Realise the Potential of Service Innovation

Internationally, the transformative potential and relevance of service innovation to all industry sectors and firm sizes has and continues to gain both policy and industry interest. However, in an Irish context,the legacy of prioritising a narrow product/technology conceptualisation of innovation continues to dominate the landscape (Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2006-2013). This is in spite of service innovation’s proven capacity to support the restructuring of existing businesses and the creation of new industrial structures, product/service offerings, channels to market, business models, global value chains and customer experiences (McKinsey, 2010; Expert Panel on Service Innovation, 2011; PWC,2013). Indeed, despite the emerging international consensus of service innovation as a demonstrable engine for economic growth and transformation, Ireland’s engagement in and exploitation of the discipline is at an embryonic state. Hence, firstly, this paper will explore this enigma by examining the current situation through a service innovation lens, drilling down into the causes and critical issues impacting on this landscape. Secondly, this paper will seek to surface recent developments, such as the identification by DJEI/Forfás, of ‘Innovation in Services and Business Processes’ as a key national priority. Thirdly, this paper will propose suggestions in respect of the dedicated resources and infrastructure needed to realise service innovation’s potential; for instance, the need for “...dedicated business support measures to promote R&D and innovation capability in services companies and to facilitate the development of services by manufacturing enterprises” (Forfás, 2008:17). Fourthly, this paper responds to calls (European Commission, 2012) for a more comprehensive dialogue on how service innovation can be promoted and scaled indigenously and internationally, by incorporating triangulated data from desk research with empirical policy and academia stakeholder interviews and cross-sectoral industry workshop data. Ultimately, this paper proposes a roadmap, informed by international best practice, and incorporating multiple innovation stakeholder views (industry, academia and policy), to reimagine Ireland’s innovation landscape. Accordingly, the research impacts and has implications for various levels of Ireland’s innovation landscape, most notably in terms of policy, stakeholder, industry, research and academic perspectives.