Service Science and the race for the whitehouse
Alok Rishi who is our Chief Technologist for Services Science forwarded over a very interesting reference to Hillary Clinton's innovation initiative (http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=3656) while the political landscape has changed since this was posted (10/10/07) the section on services science I found particularly interesting and to the point.
"Create the Services Science Initiative. The services sector now accounts for approximately 80% of the U.S. economy. Nevertheless, innovation is rarely associated with the generation and delivery of services. Companies are increasingly carrying out service R&D, but there is no discipline that promotes innovation and productivity in the services sector in the same way that electrical engineering, for example, has led to technological advances in the development of the computer chip. Accordingly, Hillary will create a Services Science Initiative. Modeled on the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the federal government will help support R&D in services; support and encourage cross-disciplinary research that draws on fields such as computer science, management, operations, and organizational behavior; and also facilitate the dissemination of knowledge. The Services Science Initiative will help improve the competitiveness of American business, and in the process, create jobs."
Its been interesting watching the US political process and seeing increasing references to services science related topics and expanding NSF's reach to tap these areas. I'm hopeful no matter who ends up in the oval office the services science agenda will move forward.
-- update 6/26/08 - Alok just created a blog at http://blogs.sun.com/alok/ i'm for one are looking forward to learning more.
