Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) as Innovators and Catalysts of Innovation in ‘Systems of Innovation

Public summary

Knowledge Intensive Business Services are a sub-set of business service firms that are now recognised as being especially innovative and dynamic and, more importantly, act as intermediaries and catalysers of innovation within wider ‘systems of innovation. As such, they largely complement the knowledge development and diffusion roles of universities and the public science base. Professor Ian Miles at the University of Manchester was the first to research Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) and their systemic roles, which have been recognised and adopted into industrial and innovation policies by the UK Government, the European Commission, the OECD, Tekes in Finland, and others.

Impact date	2014
Category of impact	Economic impacts, Societal impacts