The Complex Relationship between ICT and Innovation in Services: A Literature Review

Recent literature reveals the increasingly important role of ICT within innovation in services. The heterogeneity of existing literature on the topic makes it harder to identify the main problem areas and to spot the critical knowledge gaps when planning and executing research on ICT and innovation in services. This paper aims at outlining how scholars have investigated the relationship between ICT and innovation in services so far, by analyzing the fragmented body of knowledge available on the topic, to strengthen the problem 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.