The Cambridge-IBM SSME White Paper Revisited

In July 2007, IBM and Cambridge University’s Institute for Manufacturing (IfM ), in conjunction with BAE Systems, convened a group of leading academics and senior industrialists in a two-day symposium to address the critical questions facing the emerging field of Service Science , Management and Engineering (SSME ). The meeting, together with a consultation process involving over a hundred international respondents, created a white paper for universities, businesses and governments globally (IfM and IBM 2008). The report called for (1) the advancement of SSME as a distinct subject of research and education through intensive collaboration across disciplines, and (2) the creation of national Service Innovation Roadmaps (SIR) to double investment in service research and education worldwide by 2015. Since the white paper was released, exciting progress has taken place; many universities have started SSME courses while various governments released SIR reports (see Appendices I and II for lists of such initiatives). In the remainder of this chapter, we provide an updated summary of the white paper and revisit its original recommendations for SSME stakeholders.