Services Innovation in Ireland - Options for ... - Europe INNOVA

The aim of this WP was to understand leading service sector innovation developments and success
factors – including ‘environmental’ factors and policy/supports that could be associated with these
sectors from a global perspective.
To further enhance understanding of sector innovation developments and success factors the Study
also explored case-studies of dynamic geographical concentrations in the sectors noted above. The
CMI consortium identified the precise case-study areas/concentrations and the subsequent research
was co-ordinated by Professor Jari Kuusisto.
Table 6 Global Innovation Hot Spots Selected
Creative Industries
Scotland (UK)
Stockholm (SWE)
In each case-study concentration the research utilised the main concepts and models identified in
WP 1 to identify the key characteristics of innovation in the sector. This included a sector description,
supported by evidence of its scale and scope, leading companies and developments/trends. This
analysis was further complemented by an assessment of the dimensions and role of innovation in
the sector. The aim here was to ‘get under the skin’ of services innovation in the respective sector
concentrations and identify the ‘environmental’ factors that support and contribute towards success.
In order to draw robust conclusions from the case-studies the research examined two examples of
dynamic sector concentrations for each of the three sectors noted above. This international fieldwork
was undertaken by members of the CMI Consortium who, where possible, accessed networks of
international experts including local public policy and company experts.
Work Package 3: Irish Service Sectors Innovation Analysis
WP 3 addressed the current level of performance and innovation in the six case-study service
sectors in Ireland. This included the three sectors chosen for global sector innovation research, plus:
Education Traded Services; IT & Computer Services; Healthcare Services. These sectors were selected by
the Steering Committee using the criteria that were applied to the global sector/concentration case
studies (see WP 2).
In building a complete picture, reference was made to existing research and indicators. Use was also
made of current data sources provided by the CSO, as well as Forfás’ own datasets from the annual
BERD 103 survey, CIS3 104 and appropriate research studies 105 .
The findings from the review of existing research sources provided an important baseline of
(statistical) information. The main task of this phase, however, was a series of detailed interviews with
companies in the selected service sectors. All case study interviews used the typologies and models
of services innovation identified in WP 1, and were designed to identify key characteristics of service
innovation in each sector, success and failures, drivers and barriers. Emphasis was also placed on
assessing each company’s current use of, and experiences of support mechanisms, as well as areas of
support ‘need’.
In securing access to case-study companies the research drew on both Enterprise Ireland and IDA
Ireland company databases. Companies were initially approached through a letter from Forfás.
This letter was followed up and face-to-face interviews arranged. The length of interviews ranged
between one to two hours, with follow up discussions where appropriate.
103 Business Expenditure on R&D.
104 Community Innovation Survey.
105 Although it is important to recognise the limitations of these datasets individually (e.g. the low response rate to CIS3), they provide useful
and comparable benchmarks.
Financial Services
London (UK)
North Carolina (USA)
0
SCM & Logistics
Amsterdam (NL)
Memphis (USA)