Regarding trends and ongoing ISSIP discussions on sourcing and re-shoring…  manufacturing is becoming a local recycling service and call-centers are becoming self-service cognitive systems learning from crowd-sourcing….

(1)ISSIP COI (Community of Interest) on Next Gen Manufacturing:  A weekly 30 min informal call series (community of interest) on the topic of next-generation manufacturing, many topics will be discussed, but my primary interest is in re-shoring of manufacturing, with special interest in manufacturing as a local recycing service for paper, plastic, glass, copper, steel rebar, cloth, etc. and other commodities.

(2) ISSIP SIG (Special Interest Group) on Service Futures: A monthly 30 min informal call series (special interest group) on service futures, including the topic of re-shoring of call center and knowledge-work evia new cognitive systems for more complex knowledge-work.

The theoretical perspective that I take in both of the above has to do with sustainability and resilience of holistic service systems (nations, states, cities, universities, etc.)…

Spohrer, J., & Maglio, P. P. (2008).
The Emergence of Service Science: Toward Systematic Service Innovations to Accelerate Co‐Creation of Value.
Production and operations management, 17(3), 238-246.

Note: The Z-Theory of Work Transformation in the above paper.

Spohrer, J., Piciocchi, P., & Bassano, C. (2012).
Three frameworks for service research: exploring multilevel governance in nested, networked systems.
Service Science, 4(2), 147-160.

Note: The IBM Smarter Planet connections in the above paper.