Introduction to the special issue — Social computing and service innovation: A framework for research

Recently, we more and more observe service innovations emerging from social interactions among a network of actors inside and outside of organizations. Social computing technologies are the main facilitators of social interactions, hence increasingly play a vital role in the service innovation. Yet, research on the role of social computing in service innovation lacks clear theoretical and empirical basis. This special issue was designed to stimulate research on the intersection of social computing and service innovation. In this paper, we outline a broad research framework in this regard, including the papers in this special issue and areas for future research.