Role of higher education sector in changing service sector innovation system

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of universities in the service sector innovation system of India. Design/methodology/approach - Use was made of secondary sources of data such as various reports, books and journals, to gather information on what constitutes the national innovation system (NIS) of a country. An attempt was made to assess the performance of India's innovation system, which comprises investment, infrastructure, knowledge and skill generation, and relations and linkages. The author made broad use of this conceptual framework to make an assessment of the performance of the changing service sector innovation system in India. To examine the performance of India's NIS, three elements were focused on: R&D, FDI in services, and status of higher education sector. Findings - The paper concludes that India has a well-functioning service sector innovation system yet much needs to be done if India wants to keep alive her ambition of becoming a knowledge powerhouse or innovation superpower. Moreover, the private sector can play an important role in the improvement of quality of education, as has been revealed by the example of NASSCOM. Originality/value - While there is some research on the NIS of India, not much has been written about the service sector innovation system of India. The paper fills this gap in the current literature to some extent.