0018-9162/07/$25.00 �� 2007 IEEE January 2007 71 Published by the IEEE Computer Society C O V E R F E A T U R E ��� educating and training engineering and science grad- uates prepared to deal with management, policy, and social issues. One approach is to develop a general theory of ser- vice with well-defined questions, tools, methods, and practical implications for society. Some see econom- ics, operations research, industrial engineering, man- agement of information systems, multiagent systems, or the science of complex systems as the appropriate starting point for such a general theory. Others con- tend that the pervasiveness of services, such as gov- ernment, education, healthcare, banking, insurance, IT and business services, creates a need for many specific engineering, management, or applied science disciplines. We believe the solution lies in between those two approaches. Toward this end, we���re cultivating an inter- disciplinary effort called Service Science, Management, and Engineering���the application of scientific, man- agement, and engineering disciplines to tasks that one organization (service provider) beneficially performs for and with another (service client). SSME aims to under- stand how an organization can invest effectively to cre- ate service innovations and to realize more predictable outcomes.2-5 With information and business services the service economy���s fastest-growing segments���and with the rise of Web services, service-oriented architectures (SOA), and self-service systems���we see a strong rela- The service sector accounts for most of the world���s economic activity,but it���s the least- studied part of the economy.A service system comprises people and technologies that adaptively compute and adjust to a system���s changing value of knowledge.A science of service systems could provide theory and practice around service innovation. Jim Spohrer, Paul P. Maglio, John Bailey, and Daniel Gruhl IBM Almaden Research Center Omeasure.compliance, ver the past three decades, services have become the largest part of most industrialized nations��� economies. Yet there���s still no widely accepted definition of service, and service productivity, quality, and innovation all remain hard to Few researchers have studied service, and institutions have paid little attention to educating students in this area. The service economy refers to the service sector, one of three main economic categories, in addition to ser- vice activities performed in the extractive and manufac- turing sectors. The growth of the service sector has resulted in part from the specialization and outsourcing of service activities performed inside manufacturing firms (for example, design, maintenance, human re- sources, customer contact specialists). According to a recent National Academy of Engineering report,1 the ser- vice sector accounts for more than 80 percent of the US gross domestic product, employs a large and growing share of the science and engineering workforce, and is the primary user of IT. The report suggests that acade- mic researchers ought to begin to focus on service busi- nesses��� needs by: ��� adapting and applying systems and industrial engi- neering concepts, methodologies, and quality-con- trol processes to service functions and businesses ��� integrating technological research and social science, management, and policy research and Steps Toward a Science of Service Systems