ABSTRACT
Digital technologies increase the value that knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) firms produce via three self-reinforcing mechanisms. The first is scalability, which means that digital technologies are tools to codify, standardize, store and replicate firms’ knowledge at almost zero costs. Second, digital technologies augment problem-solving effectiveness and efficiency, and increase the level of problem-solving complexity that managers can handle. Third, digital technologies support professionals by providing tools to sustain humans’ creativity and connectivity. KIBS companies can stimulate and support knowledge creation and dissemination and in turn innovation processes, enabling their clients to exploit their own knowledge base and resources optimally. All in all, digital technologies can support KIBS firms’ growth by spurring their innovativeness, solving the productivity dilemma in that they allow the replication and storing of the service offer and easing services’ transferability across geographical borders. Digital technologies allow firms to manage increasing degrees of complexity. Robotics and information technology are the future, even for KIBS firms.
