Sydney, Australia — SAP Australia New Zealand (ANZ) today announced the participation of SAP Research in the co-operative Research Centre for Smart Services (Smart Services CRC). The Smart Services CRC brings together 18 public and private sector organisations in Australia to develop Web-based innovation for the services sector.
The goal of the Smart Services CRC is to develop technologies and business models that are open and flexible enough to meet the requirements of a modern services-based economy operating in a global context.
In partnership with universities, government agencies and industry organisations, SAP
Research is leading the development of a ‘Service Delivery Framework’ for financial
services and government departments. The Service Delivery Framework is one
example of a project involving SAP that will provide a foundation to the next generation
of Web-based services to be seamlessly re-purposed into new business contexts, new
channels and new markets.
The Smart Services CRC’s initial programmes will concentrate on developing new
applications and capabilities in three main industry sectors: digital media, finance and
government. Through end-user collaboration in the projects, participants will be able to
develop and test applications in real-world settings, paving the way for the adoption of
new technologies. The Smart Services CRC invites input from end users, government
and industry to ensure that projects and investments in research deliver tangible benefits
to participants and are directly related to challenges in the marketplace.
“The Smart Services CRC aims to accelerate Australia’s transition into a globally
competitive services economy,” said Dr. Karsten Schulz, Vice President SAP Research.
“It will play a key role in bringing our vision for the ‘Internet of Services’ to life and will
lead the way in establishing industry best-practice.
“Computing based on enterprise Service Oriented Architecture has the potential to offer
massive value and benefit to business, government and consumers. The project will
provide thought leadership in Australia by realising and testing concepts relating to
enterprise SOA,” said Dr. Schulz.
“Over the last decade, the Services sector has become the biggest and fastest-growing
business segment in the world,” said Tim Ebbeck, president & CEO SAP ANZ. “It
employs far more people than any other sector and forms 64% of world-wide GDP1
”.
“In today’s Internet-savvy world, people will expect more flexible, more innovative
service delivery solutions, especially in public, financial and media services. For
Australia this means that there needs to be a strong push towards a Web-based
services economy.
“The collaboration between SAP Research and the Smart Services CRC compliments
SAP’s strategic focus on enterprise Service Oriented Architecture, where SAP provides
a platform of core services for co-innovation to customers and partners,” said Ebbeck.
The Smart Services CRC has attracted more than $120million in funding from partners
and the Australian Government. As the largest industry contributor, SAP Research will
provide $12.6million over 7 years in funding, technology equipment and infrastructure.
SAP Research has permanent facilities in Brisbane and is an active collaborator with the
higher education sector through the ARC Linkage Projects scheme and student programs, and with commercial organisations.
The Smart Services CRC is aligned with international research initiatives involving SAP
including THESEUS, a research program focusing on a new Web-based services economy funded by the German Government.
The Service Delivery Framework Project
Sitting under the Smart Services CRC research agenda for financial services and government agencies, the Service Delivery Framework project aims to develop a new-generation of Web-based services to benefit consumers. The Framework will provide an infrastructure for the registration and composition of innovative services. Third parties will be able to identify and leverage the Web-based services within the Framework, add value to existing services, generate revenue and increase end user engagement. For example, a solution providing personalised financial planning to end users will be investigated as a Web service to be delivered using the Framework.
About the Smart Services CRC
The Smart Services CRC is a $120m research collaboration between 12 leading industry
participants, six leading universities and the Federal Government and NSW and Queensland
Governments. The focus of the Smart Services research is in delivering new and improved
services for the services economy. The CRC has a particular strength in understanding the service needs of customers, development requirements of ecosystems for service delivery and long-term trends for services of the future. Smart Services will draw on the background of its
Participants to deliver initial demonstrators in the finance, government and media sectors.
About SAP Research
As the global technology research unit of SAP, SAP Research significantly contributes to SAP’s
product portfolio and extends SAP’s leading position by identifying and shaping emerging IT
trends through applied research.
Research
In contrast to SAP’s product groups, which work on new functions and releases, SAP researchers
explore opportunities that haven’t yet been developed into products. We track technology trends, evaluate the potential impact on SAP solutions and customers, and generate breakthrough technologies.
Co-Innovation
The business model of SAP Research is based on co-innovation through collaborative research.
Working with leading universities, partners, customers, and SAP product groups, SAP Research
oversees the development of promising ideas and prototypes into market-ready software for
maximum customer value.
