Ayming’s second annual International Innovation Barometer tells a story of increasing complexity, set against the backdrop of the global pandemic.
To create the Barometer we conducted a detailed survey of 330 senior R&D professionals, CFOs, C-suite executives and business owners in companies of all sizes in the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The findings show that innovation continues to be crucial for companies’ growth, but Covid-19 represents a real pivot point – one that could see budgets reduced, but could just as easily provide a catalyst for innovation.
Key findings include:
- Expectations for budget increases are down 12% on last year, a symptom of Covid-19
- Technology is the most important driver of R&D, as selected by 39% of respondents
- Outsourcing is on the up, with use of external private resources rising from 35% to 48%
- Funding is diversifying; crowdfunding is up 17% and equity/debt funding is up 6%
- Behind technology, the second most important way to improve sustainable innovation is more targeted tax incentives, at 28%
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