EUROPEAN TRANSLATIONAL SERVICE INNOVATION AWARD
The European Translational Service Innovation Award honors outstanding work that successfully bridges knowledge to real-life impact across industries.
Across domains such as health, mobility, finance, sustainability and public services, the award highlights research, projects and programs that turn scientific discoveries into implementable service solutions, reduce translational gaps, and demonstrably enhance human well‑being. It celebrates individuals and teams who design and engineer services that make knowledge usable, scalable, and sustainable in real-world ecosystems.
Jointly presented by Institut für Service Design, Hamburg -https://ifsd.hamburg, the International Society of Service Innovation Professionals - https://issip.org , and Frauhofer IAO -https://iao.fraunhofer.de , the award recognizes contributions from both theory and practice that advance translational services and help overcome frictions along the path from knowledge to impact.
About the initiators
Markus Warg heads the Institute for Service Design (IfSD) in Hamburg, a think tank for service‑dominant strategies, digital platforms, and translational service research. He is Professor of Leadership, Service Design, and Risk Management, founder of Service Dominant Architecture and a co‑creator of the Translational Service Research and Design Methodology (TSRDM).
Jim Spohrer is a co‑founder of ISSIP and co-founder and a leading voice in Service Science. Known for his pioneering work on service systems, service ecosystems, and human‑centered innovation. His research and industry leadership have helped shape the global service science community and created a shared language for understanding value co‑creation across business, technology, and society. He has co‑authored key works on “Service in the AI Era” and continues to advance transdisciplinary approaches to service innovation.
Jens Neuhüttler represents FAU’s Heilbronn campus, where he works at the intersection of management, data-driven innovation, and service ecosystems. His work supports the development of new educational and research formats that connect universities, companies, and regions, with a strong focus on real‑world experimentation, platform-based business models, and the practical transfer of service innovation into regional and European contexts.
About TRANSLATIONAL SERVICE RESEARCH AND DESIGN METHODOLOGY (TSRDM)
TSRDM is a systematic methodology for overcoming translational gaps between scientific discovery and practical implementation by treating the entire journey from knowledge to impact as a service-based, ecosystemic process. The approach consists of three pillars and eight steps that align research, design, engineering, and implementation, making translational frictions visible and addressable as explicit design dimensions.
Central to TSRDM is the analysis of frictions (obstacles that slow or block progress), linkages (connections and interfaces between actors, activities, and artefacts), and transitions (regime shifts and staged changes in systems over time). By using a unified service language and reusable translational patterns, TSRDM supports practitioners and researchers in designing services that systematically reduce translational “valleys of death” and accelerate the progression from ideas and evidence to scalable, impactful solutions.
