Driving Curriculum Change For A Smarter Planet!

IBM is collaborating with more than 250 universities in 50 countries that are offering courses or degree programmes in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME). SSME is a new academic discipline designed to produce students with the combined business and technology skills needed to enter today's workforce ready to contribute immediately to their countries' economic and innovation agendas.
As the world becomes more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, customers are being served through complex systems that require new problem solving and communication skills in the global workforce. SSME educates people about these complex systems and networks that serve customers better, creating what IBM calls a smarter planet -- building a smarter healthcare system, smart grids and smarter cities. Beyond teaching technology and businesses courses with factory floor examples, SSME programmes focus on many complex service systems, such as healthcare and transportation networks.

Governments from 18 nations, including Germany and Japan, have responded to the call for prioritising and providing funding for service research and curricula. "Service Science is not just a powerful way to provide better service offerings at less cost, it also provides insights into human behaviour that can be used for the greater good of mankind," said Jim Whelan, programme manager, Industrial Development Agency of Ireland.

"IBM has been working with universities and other industry organisations to identify the skills needed in this ever-changing world economy," said Jai Menon, vice president, technical strategy and university programmes, IBM. "We're finding that a combined education in business, technology and social sciences is the right education needed for students to have the baseline of skills for innovation. The rapid expansion of SSME has been exciting to see, in emerging markets from Vietnam to India, to established economies like the U.S. and Germany."

SSME has spread to 250 universities in 50 countries on six continents offering degree programmes and specific courses. Some examples include: The University of Pavia, Italy, has a Service Engineering Master's degree, including a course focussed on helping the re-engineering of the Italian health system, in order to make it more efficient and more innovative. Students are developing their final thesis and dissertation in cooperation with Maugeri Hospital; and Vietnam National University has an IT Services Management programme.

Many universities in the United States have SSME programmes and research centres. Some examples include: North Carolina State University has an SSME concentration in their MBA and Masters of Engineering programmes; University of Maryland Smith School of Business has two centres that involve SSME, the Center for Excellence in Service and the Center for Complexity in Business; and University of Washington has a Global Integrated Systems Engineering programme.

There also has been an industry-wide call that has ratified the need for Service Science-related skills. Organisations calling for a curricula change include the Service Research and Innovation Initiative (SRII), the Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA), the Service and Support Professionals Association (SSPA), the Association for Services Management International (ASMI) and the Center for Innovation Management Studies.

"Service businesses are the fastest growing part of the global technology industry. Yet most companies struggle to make service investments that lead to strategic outcomes or real innovation," said J.B. Wood, president and CEO of the TPSA, SSPA and ASMI. "We understand how to do product research and development but not service research and development. What's missing is the toolbox for companies to apply classic research techniques and disciplines to this important market. Service science is that toolbox."

In support of service research, service innovation and SSME, there are now 27 SSME research innovation centres at universities around the world. These centres offer practical experience and industry participation to interdisciplinary teams of university researchers. IBM also advises on student competitions that improve service systems to create a smarter planet, as well as sponsors award programmes for both students and faculty, around SSME.