Exploratory Research on Engineering the Service Sector (ESS)

The National Science Foundation announces a focused solicitation for Exploratory Research on Engineering the Service Sector (ESS). The service sector of the U.S. economy dominates both GDP and employment, and provides critical infrastructure on which much of the nation depends. The goal of this ESS effort is to stimulate the development of a community of academic researchers in engineering and allied branches of the mathematical and social sciences, and a corresponding body of research findings, that address the service sector across a scope commensurate with its critical and dominant position. Specifically, this effort will support research on application of the rigorous computational problem-solving techniques that define engineering to improving the quality, productivity, safety, reliability and competitiveness of service operations. The research will thus explore opportunities for extending engineering-oriented research to newly emerging types of service enterprises and to those where it has been relatively under-utilized, seek out new ideas on more established service engineering research topics, and begin building an understanding of issues and opportunities common to different types of service operations.