The world economy is increasingly dominated by services, but investment in research to develop innovative service offerings and delivery mechanisms is dangerously low. The SSPA and its sister association, the Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA), are pleased to announce the Service Research & Innovation (SRI) Initiative organized to increase the amount of focused research and development for technology service innovation. IBM Research and Oracle have joined SSPA and TPSA as founding sponsors of the SRI initiative and are forming an advisory board with global representatives from industry, education and government to help mobilize resources to address this critical gap in services research. To build awareness for the initiative, SSPA and TPSA will host the Technology Services Research & Innovation Symposium at the Santa Clara Convention Center on April 2, 2007. Also in development is SRINet, an online research clearinghouse linking research needs, proposals and funding. To receive updates on the initiative, email sri@thesspa.com.