The Interactions between Information and Communication Technologies and Innovation in Services

Abstract

Recent literature reveals the increasingly important role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) within innovation in services. This paper aims at outlining how scholars have conceptualized and defined the relationship between ICT and innovation in services so far, by analysing the fragmented body of knowledge available on the topic, to strengthen the research area as field of study and support its progress. The results of the literature review were derived through a concept-centric analysis of the existing research on ICT and innovation in services. The outcome of the literature review is a conceptual typology that organizes and summarizes the body of knowledge on ICT and innovation in services, and reveals the critical knowledge gaps along with an agenda for future research. The main contribution of this work resides in having organized existing literature on the relationship between ICT and innovation in services into a conceptual typology. The conceptual typology outlines the three main aspects of the link between ICT and innovation in services: the integration of organizational and innovation processes; the cooperation among internal and external agents; and the self-reinforcing innovation mechanism that characterizes ICT as a product.