The Role of Information Technology in the Innovation Process

With increasing globalisation of the banking industry and continuing change of customer's preferences,banks are facing more and more intensive competition.It is critically importance to provide new innovative services, products and processes to adapt to the change in customers'needs.The aim of this research was to identify the role of IT in supporting the innovation in private banks in Syria that play significant role in the quickly growing Syrian economy.A survey targeted at IT managers and their assistants was conducted in seven private banks,which were chosen from all private banks in Syria.Overall 52 completed questionnaires were received and statistically analysed with SPSS(Statistical Packages for Social Science)software.The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between the IT and the innovation process at private banks in Syria.Moreover, it was found that IT used in these banks plays a significant positive role in supporting the innovation processes through its role in designing new products/services,designing new processes, increasing customer satisfaction and strengthening of the competitive position of private banks in Syria.