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European policies and instruments

to support service innovation

EPISIS

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EPISIS promotes development of service innovations at policy, strategic and operational levels through transnational cooperation between policy-makers and innovation agencies. The project duration is three years (2009 – 2012) and the overall budget is 3M€.

The EPISIS project is carried out by the Consortium of leading European public authorities from Finland (Coordinator), Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. To ensure wider validation, EPISIS has established a European Service Innovation Think Tank representing the partners and 10 additional European public authorities responsible for the design and implementation of service innovation support activities in their countries.

EPISIS – European policies and instruments to support service innovation

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Shift towards service economyService innovation is a phenomenon that cuts horizontally the whole economy. Service activities and service business is performed in all industries from service sector to traditional manufacturing sectors. Thus innovative services can act as an important catalyst for the renewal of entire industries, networks and clusters.

What distinguishes service innovation from the traditional understanding of R&D is its relation to technology. Technology can be understood as an enabling platform for numerous non-technological service innovations that can deliver unmatched value to the customer and the service provider. The integration of services and technology is thus highly important for the service innovation creation.

The instrumental role of service innovation has not been sufficiently recognized. As a multi-dimensional, multi-level phenomenon service innovation creates challenges for the traditional innovation policy. Success in the area calls for a horizontal approach and requires transnational cooperation efforts at policy, strategy and operational level. The EPISIS project has been created to tackle this need.

The key components of EPISISEPISIS is a project under the PRO INNO Europe initiative of the Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry and it aims at supporting service innovation at the policy, strategic and operational levels.

The policy level objective is to advance broad-based innovation policy approach by identifying emerging policy challenges and designing new policy concepts in response to them.

The strategic level objective is to enhance understanding on service innovation and to continue the mind-set change to recognise service businesses and service innovation as a powerful economic force in the EU.

The operational level objective is to develop new, more efficient tools and measures to support service innovations.

Two overarching factors – emphasis on non-sector specificity and on non-technological innovation – lay the overall foundation for the EPISIS project.

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The EPISIS project has established a wider “European Service Innovation Think Tank” to be engaged in policy and strategic level discussion and agenda development. The Think Tank is a high-level forum to identify emerging needs in support of service innovation and to give recommendations for better service innovation support mechanisms.

Annually the project shall organise a policy-oriented International Conference on Service Innovation. Conferences are targeted at policy makers and will facilitate a wider dissemination of project results and outcomes.

The activities of EPISIS are divided into following five Work Packages (WP) (the responsible partner in brackets):

Work Package 1: Development of policy recommendations to support service innovation (Tekes)

Work Package 2: Annual conferences (DASTI)Work Package 3: Improving knowledge transfer and

service innovation (PT-DLR)Work Package 4: New forms of support for open and

user-driven innovation management (VINNOVA)

Work Package 5: Strengthening the policy framework for innovation in services (BIS)

Development of policy recommendations in the WP1 is based on the work carried out in specific Task Forces (TF). The project will run seven Task Forces of 12 months duration each. The project has five predefined themes and two undefined themes, the topic of which will be decided later during the project. Task Forces, which are led by the partners, address specific issues in the field of service innovation:

TF1 Service typology (Tekes)TF2 Impact analysis and indicators (DASTI)TF3 Integration of services and technologies (PT-DLR)TF4 New skills and competences to manage

innovation in services (VINNOVA)TF5 Internationalisation of high-growth service

companies (BIS)TF6 Theme openTF7 Theme open

WORK PACKAGE 1Development of policy recommendations

to support service innovation

European Service Innovation Think Tank

Service typology (TF1)

Impact analysis and indicators (TF2)

Integration of services and technologies (TF3)

New skills and competences to manage innovation in services (TF4)

Internationalisation of high-growth service companies (TF5)

Theme open (TF6)

Theme open (TF7

WORK PACKAGE 3Improving knowledge transfer and service innovation

WORK PACKAGE 4New forms of support for open and user-driven innovation management

WORK PACKAGE 5Strengthening the policy framework for innovation in services

SUCCESS FACTORS

The main POLICY LEVEL objective is to advance broad-based innovation policy approach

The main STRATEGIC LEVEL objective is to improve understanding on service innovation and strengthen a mind-set change for service eonomy

The main OPERATIONAL LEVEL objective is to encourage the development of new policy tools and measures

Overview of EPISIS activities

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WORK PACKAGE 2Annual conferences

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Tekes Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation - Project Coordinator (Finland)

DASTI Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (Denmark)

PT-DLR Projektträger im Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (Germany)

VINNOVA Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Sweden)

BIS Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (The United Kingdom)

• Tekes -Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation - Project Coordinator (Finland)

• DASTI -Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation (Denmark)

• PT-DLR -Projektträger im Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (Germany)

• VINNOVA - Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Sweden)

• BIS -Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (The United Kingdom)

• FFG, Austrian Research Promoting Agency • Ministry of Employment and the Economy (Finland) • OSEO (France)• Ministry of Education and Research (Germany)• Enterprise Ireland • NL Agency (the Netherlands)• Ministry of Trade and Industry (Norway)• The Public Agency for Technology of the Republic of

Slovenia• Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (Spain) • Ministry of Industry, Energy and Communications

(Sweden)

EPISIS Consortium: European Service Innovation Think Tank:

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Contactinformation

The EPISIS project can be monitored via the projects’ own website

at the PRO INNO portal www.proinno-europe.eu/

For further information, please contact the Project Coordinator of the EPISIS project:

Anna-Maija RautiainenTekes, Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation

Telephone: +358 50 557 7808E-mail: anna-maija.rautiainen@tekes.fi