Conference article

Amidst the wave of socio-economic problems and challenges plaguing the society, it has become imperative for governments and public managers to find novel ways of innovating in the public sector and service design is being touted as the panacea. There is an array of studies and research works that have attested to the efficacy of service design in fostering public service innovation but many of these works are still bereft of a service innovation perspective that properly sheds the light on the consultancy practices of service designers as external experts in the public sector and their contribution to service innovation in the public sector. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to contribute to the discourse by conceptually explicating the role of service design consultancy in the public sector and the implication on governance through the lens of synthesis service innovation and KIBS perspectives.

service design, service innovation, KIBS, public sector, governance