Introduction to the Special Issue on Exploring Service Science for Data-Driven Service Design and Innovation

Service science was launched by IBM about 15 years ago in an attempt to integrate different knowledge domains contributing to the study and better understanding of service systems. From the start, it was clear that the organization, design, operating, and development of service systems had to be based on a new conceptualization of service in the context of systems, on relationship governance, and on new, data-driven techniques of value generation. To address such demanding theoretical issues in the search for a better understanding of service systems and value creation, the service community was inspired by a multidisciplinary approach capable of catalyzing scientific contributions proposed by researchers coming not only from IBM, but also from academia and experts in information technology (IT), management, marketing and consumer behavior, sociology, computer science, engineering, and many other disciplines.