Author: Juan Carlos Laredo Fajardo
Programme: Doctoral Programme on the Information and Knowledge Society
Language: English
Supervisor: Dr Josep Lladós Masllorens
Faculty / Institute: Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3)
Key words: Services, innovation, digital technologies
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Summary
The absorption capacity, the strategic use of digital technologies and the organizational change are encouraging a highly-innovative performance of services in Catalonia. The innovation process in this sector does not follow a unique pattern due to different combinations of existing determinants and because the nature of innovation is changing from a closed model, based on the domestic development of new ideas, towards a more open and interactive model, based on multiple sources of ideas and knowledge, both from internal and external origins. Services are not an exception to this evolution. And, despite in some tertiary activities we detect a close proximity to the industrial model, the reality of innovation process is much more complex. In services, technologies tend to be a material basis rather than the key element to innovation. In fact, one of the main qualitative effects of technological change in services, based on the widespread influence of digital technologies, is the increasing intensity of applied knowledge in this kind of activities. In this sense, labour skills and qualification seems to be the critical point to success. Finally, although the well-known difficulties to measure its impact, the influence of innovation on economic performance, efficiency and growth appear to be very positive.