ABSTRACT
Services are the dominant economic sector in modern economies and are a crucial building block of competitiveness strategy and, ultimately, of welfare in the European Union (EU). Yet most academic research and EU projects have examined public and private services in isolation from each other (ServPPIN and the EU, 2008:6). This may produce a partial and incomplete understanding of the drivers, dynamics and impact of services. The ServPPIN project aims to bridge this gap and to go beyond this dichotomy by studying the contribution of services to growth and welfare from the perspective of the complementarities between public and private services. In particular, it focuses on service innovation and on public–private innovation networks (PPINs) as these are an important organizational mode for developing, producing and delivering new and improved services. Public–private innovation networks in services (ServPPINs) are conceived as flexible organizational platforms that support the exploitation of the various complementarities and synergies that exist between public and private sector organizations. ServPPINs aim to innovate in service activities by integrating and sharing dispersed knowledge, technology and competences, as well as potential risks, among the partners involved.
