Within industry a focus on services rather than products alone determines increasingly competitive advantage. At the same time, it is widely believed that a service-oriented economy in general will be more sustainable than an economy oriented at the production of material goods. Under the EU's Fifth Framework Programme, in May 2002 SusProNet, the EU's first Thematic Network on Product Service Development (PSD) has been launched. The Network is organised around a co-ordination group of 7 scientific institutes and some 25 mostly industrial organisations. SusProNet forms a cluster with 7 other major EU projects that develop practical product-service systems. The network's goal is to: 1. Exchange, analyse, complete and make easily available information on PSD best practice. 2. Identify research needs to create excellence in PSD in Europe; 3. To build a lasting EU-wide network of researchers and practitioners in the field of PSD; 4. To contribute considerable to various EU policy objectives, such as Integrated Product Policy, Sustainable Development, and competitive growth.
展开▼
