Background Information

Background Information

SSMEnetUK is a network of UK researchers interested in Service Science Management and Engineering. It is funded by EPSRC and actively supported by BT, HP and IBM.

In recent years service industries have become a fast growing sector in world economies. Services now account for more than 50 percent of the labour force in Brazil, Russia, Japan and Germany, as well as 75 percent of the labour force in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Increasing numbers of commentators suggest that the services industry lacks the rigor of traditional manufacturing and engineering disciplines and the growth in services is changing the way companies organize themselves, creating a skills gap.

These two driving forces - the need for new service skills and more scientific rigor to the practices of services - have led some leading universities and thought leaders in the business world to propose a new academic discipline in services.

SSMEnetUK will pioneer this new field by developing a shared understanding of goals and opportunities for research, education, and practice around the SSME agenda.